Law professor suggests blueprint to make Beijing's election reform guidelines work for HK
Law professor suggests room for manoeuvre in electoral framework for chief executive election; calls on Leung not to seek second term
A legal expert has put forward an ambitious eight-point blueprint for "constructive dialogue and negotiations" in an attempt to end the political schism after Occupy Central.
As pessimism reigns over the prospect of reform avoiding a Legislative Council veto, Professor Simon Young Ngai-man said there were still ways of making the electoral framework set out by Beijing as open as possible.
"There is no reason to believe at present that by standing still … we will be able to achieve a more liberal nomination process," Young, associate dean of law at the University of Hong Kong, wrote in an article for the .
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ruled in August that the public could pick from two or three candidates in 2017, chosen by a nominating committee similar to the Election Committee that chose previous leaders. Pan-democrats say the arrangements are closer to those of North Korea than genuine democracy.
But Young sees room for manoeuvre. For example the rules could give the public an effective veto by insisting on a minimum voter turnout of 40 per cent and a minimum 50 per cent share of the vote for the winner.
He urged the Standing Committee to win back trust by stating that the timing of national security legislation under Article 23 - which prompted mass protests in 2003 - would be a matter for the city alone.
