IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here. The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.
The government needed at least 47 of the 70 lawmakers to vote for the plans
Hong Kong lawmakers have rejected a Beijing-backed political reform package that has sparked mass protests.
Most pro-government lawmakers staged a walkout as the bill headed for defeat, with just eight casting their vote in support of the package and 28 voting against it.
They later blamed it on a miscommunication, saying that they had been waiting for a colleague who was ill to return to the chamber and has asked for a 15-minute break.
The government needed at least 47 of the 70 politicians to vote in favour of the proposal.
The proposal would have given all residents the right to vote for Hong Kong leader for the first time in 2017, but would have included a Beijing ruling requiring candidates to be vetted by a loyalist committee.
Tens of thousands of people staged protests in Hong Kong last year against the Beijing government's election screening requirement.
For 11 weeks, protesters camped out on major roads in three neighbourhoods in Hong Kong to demand greater electoral freedom. They eventually dispersed after Hong Kong's unpopular leader, Leung Chun-ying, refused to offer any concessions.
Supporters of the political reform proposal rally outside Legco on Wednesday. Global Times warned of turmoil if the package is not passed. Photo: David Wong
A Chinese state-run newspaper has warned Hong Kong would suffer immeasurable loss if the government proposal for the 2017 chief executive is voted down.
Hong Kong's legislature today blocked the government's electoral reform plan for the 2017 chief executive election, with only eight lawmakers voting in support of the proposal after members of the pro-Beijing camp staged a surprise walk-out.
Global Times, a tabloid subsidiary of the People’s Daily, said in an editorial yesterday Hong Kong was at a crossroads. It said the pan-democrats and their supporters may vote down the proposal simply to save face for their own groups or short-term interests, without giving serious thought to the dire consequences,
“They don’t bother to think it would cause immeasurable damage to confidence in the community if the opportunity for political reform is missed,” the editorial said.
WATCH: More than two years of fevered debate over political reform culminates in Legco vote, protests
The newspaper said some people in Hong Kong dared to inflict pain on society because they were adamant that the central government would not sit idly and let the city fall into chaos.
It said those people were acting like a spoilt child in trying to pressurise the central government.
“If the opposition force insists on rejecting the reform proposal, Hong Kong’s political reform would come to a standstill. Turmoil in Hong Kong would become a reality if the opposition force continues to cause trouble,” the editorial said.
The government proposal for the 2017 chief executive race is based on Beijing’s decision last August that when Hong Kong elects its leader by “one man, one vote” for the first time in 2017, it must choose from two or three candidates approved by the majority of a 1,200-member nominating committee.
The Hong Kong government’s reform package collapsed in the Legislative Council today – receiving just eight votes, with 28 against.
Government supporters rally outside the Legco complex before the vote on political reform. Photo: Dickson Lee
Beijing says it remains committed to universal suffrage in Hong Kong, despite today’s rejection of a political reform plan by the city’s legislature this afternoon.
A proposal that would have allowed Hongkongers to elect their leader in 2017 – but only under a strict framework set by Beijing – was voted down by 28 votes to 8 in the Legislative Council.
This afternoon, a spokesman for the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said: “Such a result is a departure from the mainstream public opinion of Hong Kong. It is also not what the central government likes to see.”
The spokesman criticised the pan-democrats and said they should be held responsible for denying Hong Kong people the chance to elect their leader. The camp’s 27 lawmakers all voted against the reform plan, while many pro-establishment lawmakers missed the vote after walking out in a failed attempt to delay the vote.
Pan-democracy legislators gather at the Legco chamber after the vote. Hong Kong reform package rejected as pro-Beijing lawmakers walk out from the Legco Chamber before the vote. Photo: Dickson Lee
“The central government sincerely hopes the various sectors of Hong Kong could unite under the leadership of the chief executive and the SAR government, and focus on developing the economy, improving people’s livelihoods, maintaining social harmony and maintaining Hong Kong’s long-term prosperity and stability,” the spokesman added.
Separately, a spokesman for the central government’s liaison office expressed disappointment at the vote result.
Meanwhile the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress – the body which set the strict framework for reform that pan-democrats decried as “fake universal suffrage” – issued a statement standing by its ruling.
“Although the universal suffrage motion was not passed … the direction towards universal suffrage and the legal principles laid down in the decision of the … Standing Committee, must continue to be upheld in future efforts to pursue universal suffrage,” it read.
