Student leader urges pan-democrats to step up Occupy action as injunction extended
A student protest leader has urged pan-democratic politicians to step up their involvement, including leading further dialogue with the government and setting up a referendum.
A student protest leader has urged pan-democratic politicians to step up their involvement with the Occupy Central movement, including leading further dialogue with the government and setting up a referendum.
"I do hope the pan-democratic lawmakers can take up the role for dialogue," said Chow, who joined last week's talks with officials as Federation of Students leader. "They don't need students' endorsement and as elected legislators they have legitimate claims to make a request for talks to the government."
In an interview with the , Chow said the federation was not keen on taking part in further talks itself after the first meeting a week ago failed to bear fruit.
Officials rejected a demand made by students during the talks that Hong Kong ask the national legislature to withdraw its August decision to set strict limits on nominations for the 2017 chief executive election. The officials would only agree to send a supplementary report to Beijing to reflect public sentiment.
"It is a division of labour," Chow said of the idea of politicians leading the talks. "If politicians can steer the talk, students can focus on communicating to protesters in the streets and understanding their demands."
He said how long the occupation went on for would depend on the stamina of the protesters and whether the government made concessions on reform.
And he admitted students and other Occupy organisers made an error of judgment in attempting to set up a vote of protest participants on Sunday. The ballot, on various aspects of political reform, was scrapped after disagreements among protesters.
Chow backed the idea of pan-democratic lawmakers resigning to force by-elections, which would serve as a "de facto referendum" on reform.
The idea - similar to a mass resignation over political reform in 2010 - was also raised by Occupy co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting, who said volunteers were organising "chat groups" at protest sites to debate the way forward. A mass resignation or a poll similar to the unofficial referendum Occupy ran in June were among the options. "The vote is only a tool. We will also discuss the motion for voting," Tai said.
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Democratic Party lawmaker Albert Ho Chun-yan, identified by the federation as a possible candidate to resign, said the pan-democratic camp would need to discuss the idea of resignation and how to pursue dialogue.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing chief executive Charles Li Xiaojia said a retreat by the protesters could be "a glorious move", adding that it was time for students to listen to the thoughts of others.
And a High Court judge deferred a decision on whether to uphold an injunction ordering the protesters in Admiralty and Mong Kok to disperse, but said the court order would remain in place until he made his decision.
