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.'
