Pan-dems clash over Beijing's restrictive political reform package for 2017 election

About 10 public figures from the pan-democratic camp have indicated their interest in signing a petition initiated by moderates to urge their counterparts in the Legislative Council to back the reform model for the 2017 chief executive race, the person who conceived and drafted the petition said.

The petition had received a positive reaction since media reports emerged, despite the lukewarm – if not hostile – response from pan-democratic parties, said the instigator, who refused to be named.

“Some of the public figures who have long supported democracy are from the social welfare and religious sectors, while the others are entrepreneurs,” the initiator added.

The planned petition is aimed at pressuring the 27 pan-democratic lawmakers to back down from their hardline stance and reconsider the reform package, which the moderates say could at least bar Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying from a second term.

The petition last week, and the subsequent interest in it, came as the split among pan-democrats deepened. Ex-lawmaker Nelson Wong Sing-chi, from the Democratic Party, and Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit, engaged in a rare open war of words on RTHK yesterday over whether to accept Beijing’s restrictive election framework in exchange for a chance to pick the leader by one man, one vote.

Wong urged his allies in the Legislative Council not to vote down the reform plan even though it follows Beijing’s framework, which stipulates that only two or three hopefuls who win majority support from a 1,200-strong nominating committee can go forward to a public vote. The committee is seen as a way for Beijing to vet candidates.

“Hong Kong has already lost all its dignity now,” he said. “Leung has been telling lies every day and he might have a chance of re-election if the reform is vetoed ... I think we would have even less dignity if we continue to demand democracy from the liar Leung.”