Motion Debate on "Conducting a referendum on the full implementation of elections by universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008" (30 November 2005)

MR JAMES TIEN (in Cantonese): Madam Deputy, I wish to respond to Mr LEUNG Kwok-hung's motion on behalf of the Liberal Party. There are three more concrete parts in his motion. Unlike other Members who have spoken, I will not relate this motion to other issues, such as the collusion between the Government and business or things like being so fat that one can hardly put on his socks.

Madam Deputy, the first point of Mr LEUNG Kwok-hung's motion is to request the Central Government to arrange for all Members of the Legislative Council to visit Beijing, so that Members can truly convey to the Central Government public opinions in Hong Kong regarding dual elections by universal suffrage. Regarding this point, I trust all Honourable colleagues must have noticed that in the past couple of years, the Liberal Party has always been in favour of communication between the Central Government and Members. In 2004, before taking part in the Legislative Council Election, we already expressed such a hope. Therefore, we think that if the Central Government is willing to communicate with Members - including all Members of the pan-democratic camp - the Liberal Party will absolutely render support.

Earlier on, Members of the Legislative Council visited the Pearl River Delta. Although it was the first time that all Members visited the Mainland and the topics discussed did not cover all problems, the mainland authorities have responded positively to the requests raised by several panels of the Council and allowed Members to visit Guangdong Province to conduct exchanges on such matters as the economy, people's livelihood and transportation. I think that this is a good start and we will continue to support this.

As for going to Beijing to discuss constitutional development, I think that it is in fact rather difficult to realize before 21 December. However, in the long run, no matter if the constitutional reform proposals can be passed on 21 December or not, we will still have a lot of opportunities in the future to support the requests raised by the pro-democracy camp to discuss with the Central Government the timetable and roadmap for constitutional reform. Of course, this does not mean that these questions will only be raised in Beijing but not in Hong Kong. In fact, the Commission on Strategic Development (the Commission) has also held discussions on a roadmap and timetable. Moreover, the news report last night also said that the Deputy Secretary-General of the National People's Congress (NPC), Mr QIAO Xiaoyang, was prepared to go to Shenzhen to meet us. I notice that not all Members have been invited this time and only the Chairmen and Vice-chairmen of the panels are invited, but I also notice that quite a number of them are Members of the pro-democracy camp. I believe the Deputy Secretary-General, Mr QIAO Xiaoyang, can already represent the Central Authorities in listening to the views of Members of the pan-democratic camp on implementing universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008 or on the roadmap or timetable for universal suffrage after 2012. Madam Deputy, this is my response in this regard.

The second point in the motion urges the Government to conduct a referendum on the selection of the Chief Executive and the election of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008 respectively. The Liberal Party does not support this point. Why? The reason is that, regarding the proposals for the elections in 2007 and 2008, the interpretation of the Basic Law by the NPCSC last year has already stated clearly that it is not possible to have dual elections by universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008. I believe that on the premise of "one country, two systems", the people of Hong Kong cannot make decisions on constitutional reform on their own. We have to respect the view of the "one country". Since the NPCSC has made its decisions, there is not much point even if we conduct a referendum, as it will not be possible to make the NPCSC change the fact.

The third point of the motion is the call made by Mr LEUNG Kwok-hung on this Council to appeal to all the people of Hong Kong to stand out against the Fifth Report of the Constitutional Development Task Force (the Fifth Report) on 4 December this year, so as to demonstrate once again their determination to campaign for universal suffrage. Of course, no matter how many people will join the rally on 4 December, I will absolutely respect the decisions of these people. The Liberal Party will neither urge them to participate in the rally nor urge them not to do so. However, by joining the rally, does it mean that these people are against the Fifth Report and that they are determined to fight for universal suffrage? I think that the Government's views in this regard is very similar to that of the Liberal Party, that is, the two are not mutually exclusive. I think that we can, on the one hand, support the constitutional reform proposals for 2007 and 2008, that is, to take the first step forward, however, taking this step forward does not mean that we do not have the determination to fight for a timetable and a roadmap or even lack the determination to fight for dual elections by universal suffrage in 2012 because the two are not mutually exclusive. I think that it is possible that many people will come out to fight for universal suffrage, however, is it absolutely necessary to oppose the Fifth Report, that is, the proposals for the elections in 2007 and 2008? The Liberal Party believes that it is not. If the rally represents the determination of the people in fighting for universal suffrage, we respect that absolutely. However, meanwhile, is it necessary to oppose the Fifth Report before the objective can be achieved? The Liberal Party does not agree with such a view. These are the views on Mr LEUNG Kwok-hung's motion that I would like to express on behalf of the Liberal Party.

The Liberal Party does not agree with the notion of conducting a referendum on the selection of the Chief executive and the election of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008 respectively, and does not agree with the opposition to the Fifth Report. Therefore, the Liberal Party will oppose this motion. Thank you, Madam Deputy.