Leung Chun-ying must humbly listen to the wishes of Hong Kong people
Surya Deva calls for direct talks, without preconceived notions
Dear Leung Chun-ying, I write this open letter to request that you immediately begin dialogue with peaceful Hongkongers protesting for universal suffrage.
During your election campaign, I was struck by your desire to connect with people from all walks of like. This strategy greatly helped you win the election in 2012. The welcome message on your website is also consistent with this above approach: "Reaching out to [people] has enabled me to appreciate better your needs and expectations. I have promised to be a 'chief executive for the people'."
If so, you should not have evaded the request by protesting students for a meeting. I also wonder what is stopping you now from engaging directly with the people.
Rather than always listening to your advisers who seem divorced from both the people and actual political situation, please take a walk in different districts, schools, universities and other public spaces to find out what Hongkongers want.
You often rightly invoke the Basic Law, which makes you accountable to both the central government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. There is a legitimate perception that you have not given "equal" attention to your Basic Law responsibilities towards Hong Kong people. For example, ask yourself whether you have done enough to "safeguard the rights and freedoms of the residents", as mandated by Article 4 of the Basic Law.
May I also suggest you stop relying on legality to justify the actions of the National People's Congress Standing Committee or Hong Kong police, for two reasons. First, the legality of the Standing Committee decisions is suspect because its powers are also limited by the Basic Law. Insisting that candidates "love the country" or specifying an upper limit of the number of chief executive candidates is as unconstitutional (or constitutional) as the civic nomination request made by the democrats.
The second reason is that legality only helps up to a point. If the people who define legal rules lack legitimacy, then what is perceived as illegal may become legal, and vice versa, in a free society like Hong Kong.
Those who hold positions of power in a democratic society should tolerate dissent and be willing to engage with people of opposing views. Students and other people have shown a tremendous amount of self-restraint in the current protests. Apart from some inconvenience, peaceful protesters at no time posed any threat to the people, government or public property.
Many of the protesters on the street are the same age as your children. Please step into their shoes, leave aside any ego and extend an invitation to talk to protesters without any preconceived notions.
There are better ways to deal with Hongkongers who, despite provocation in the form of excessive and unnecessary force by the police, have remained calm and peaceful. Rather than taking sides, try to build bridges and make concessions wherever possible to forge a consensus. But this could only happen if you regain people's trust and bring all relevant parties to the dialogue table.
Based on this dialogue, you may perhaps submit a fresh report to the Standing Committee requesting that it revise the August 31 decision in view of the "actual situation" of Hong Kong.
Along with many Hongkongers, I sincerely hope that you will extend a hand for dialogue and find a way to defuse the current governance crisis.
Offering an unconditional apology could be a good way to win back people to the dialogue table. Exercising your power under Article 48 of the Basic Law, to pardon in future protesters convicted of criminal offences, could be another such gesture.
