Reforms proposed by the government are found to be "useless and undemocratic". Christians call for participation in a march on 4 December for universal suffrage.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews/SCMP) Christian community leaders in Hong Kong yesterday called on the government to withdraw its "useless and undemocratic"" package of constitutional reforms and urged the population to join a protest march for universal suffrage on 4 December.
The executive authorities have submitted a package of reforms to the Legislative Council, which provide for the appointment of district councillors by the government: these will be the ones to appoint the head of the executive and representatives on the Legislative Council. The population of the territory has been calling for universal suffrage and direct election of the governor for years. The minor adjustments proposed by the government apply only to the 2007 and 2008 elections: Beijing has excluded the possibility of universal suffrage for Hong Kong after 2008.
The Democratic Movement is holding a protest march on 4 December to call on the head of the executive not to fall short of conceding the right to vote to all the population.
In a show of strong unity, Christian leaders including Catholic bishop, Mgr Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and the president of the Methodist Church, Rev. Ralph Lee held a joint conference. The Catholic bishop said: "In no way does this proposal lead to the goal of universal suffrage It is completely useless." The bishop said that Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, head of the Executive of the Territory, had little space to manoeuvre in the matter because of pressure from Beijing, however, he added, the people "should stand up to let the government know their demands".
Rev.Lee recalled that in the past Hong Kong had always held peaceful demonstrations and that Beijing need not fear the territory's democratic aspirations, as they will not harm bilateral relations. "If we don't come out and fight for a better reform package, democratic progress in the future will become bleak," he said.