Ample time for reform

The Democratic Party's Sin Chung-kai introduced a motion in the Legislative Council (LegCo) on Wednesday urging the SAR government to take up the demands made by demonstrators on July 1, while Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development So Kam-leung and Secretary for Labour and Welfare Cheung Kin-chung dealt with questions on constitutional development, economic affairs and issues concerning the people's livelihood, respectively. The three principal officials maintained that the government attaches great importance to popular wishes and is determined to work hard on improving governance and implementing universal suffrage in the years to come. They also expressed the hope that LegCo and residents will cooperate and support the government.

This year's July 1 demonstration is history, but the issues raised deserve serious contemplation by all parties concerned. As far as the number of marchers is concerned, the Department of Sociology of the University of Hong Kong put it at more than 90,000, while the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) and Apple Daily insist that 430,000 people took part. The opposition camp's real purpose in holding the annual march is to create the impression that the public wants Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to step down, so naturally they believe it helps to inflate the headcount somewhat.

Whether the CHRF and Apple Daily under-estimated Hong Kong residents' political wisdom or over-estimated their own propaganda prowess notwithstanding, the actual size of the demonstration on Monday undeniably surprised the organizers and many a sympathetic commentator. They did not expect such a significantly reduced crowd because they assumed their daily slandering of the Chief Executive and the HKSAR government had overwritten the latter's achievements in the past year in the minds of residents.

The fact that nearly 100,000 people took to the street in bad weather on July 1 also reminds the authorities of the residents' strong wish for universal suffrage with all the fairness and justness it requires. The Chief Executive should tell them that it is guaranteed in the Basic Law and by the relevant decisions of the National People's Congress Standing Committee; and they will have ample time and channels to share their views on the government's plan for the next stage of constitutional reform when it begins public consultation next year.

This is an excerpted translation of a Ta Kung Pao editorial published on July 4.

(HK Edition 07/05/2013 page9)