Central issues of the Occupy Central movement
Benny Tai sets out the seven main components of the Occupy Central movement, which, he hopes, can help create a fair and just election system for Hong Kong and thus rebuild trust
There are seven components of the "Occupy Central with Love and Peace" movement. They form an integral whole. To some, this is far too complex. Indeed, these concepts are not simple. However, we are now facing a complex political reform process in Hong Kong. Therefore, a sophisticated plan is needed.
First, the ultimate goal of Occupy Central is to push for a means of electing the chief executive that can satisfy international standards on universal and equal suffrage under Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that is applicable to Hong Kong through Article 39 of the Basic Law.
We face a complex political reform process. Therefore, a sophisticated plan is needed
The standards include at least three reasonable requirements: that every eligible voter has an equal number of votes; an equal weight for each vote; and no unreasonable restrictions on the right to stand for election. A restriction that could be used to screen out a candidate purely on the grounds of political opinion would surely not be considered reasonable.
The second component is non-violent action. One form this takes in Occupy Central is civil disobedience. In a small but powerful book on non-violent actions, , Professor Gene Sharp suggested 198 methods of non-violent action, under three distinct categories: protest and persuasion, non-co-operation, and intervention.
Creating a social disturbance to a degree that it makes governance difficult is not the main objective of non-violent action. Rather, such action aims to generate a desire among people to impose limits on the government's power and cultivate an understanding that people have the ability to withhold their consent to be governed by the existing illegitimate authority.
Third, there is civil disobedience. The objective here is to arouse people's concern for the injustice of existing laws or systems. Martin Luther King Jnr provided a summary of civil disobedience in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail". This is the model of civil disobedience. According to King, acts of civil disobedience are also illegal acts, but people who have committed them will voluntarily surrender themselves to the authorities and are willing to bear legal responsibility. They may join such acts to win people's sympathy and support. However, one must also carefully calculate the cost that might be incurred before taking part.
Occupy Central will follow these principles to organise our acts of civil disobedience. Such acts would only be carried out after Occupy Central's proposals on the means of electing the chief executive were rejected by Beijing.
