I hope we can take steps as soon as new term starts - 2012 will be too late, he says
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is optimistic that a date for universal suffrage will be available well before the end of his expected second term.
Asked if there would be a clear date for the introduction for universal suffrage before the end of the term, Mr Tsang said: 'You have to wait until I set out my manifesto. I'm a bit more optimistic on that.'
He said he hoped to deliver a clearer picture on the way forward as soon as his second term began.
'It will be rather too late if it comes by the end of the term [in 2012],' he said in an interview at Government House. 'I really hope that as soon as the term begins, we will be able to chart out what we want to do.'
Uncertainty over democratic reform has deepened following the vetoing by the Legislative Council in December 2005 of an electoral reform package initiated by Mr Tsang for the 2007 chief executive and 2008 Legislative Council elections.
The government hopes the Commission on Strategic Development, composed of leaders from different sectors of the community, will be able to reach consensus on the way forward in its final report, scheduled for completion in the next few months.
