conference
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Following is the transcript (English portion) of the Question and Answer session of a press conference given by the Constitutional Development Task Force, led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Rafael Hui, on the Fifth Report of the Constitutional Development Task Force today (October 19):
Reporter: You referred repeatedly in your remarks to LegCo and today (repeat) here about conditions needing to be ripe. Can you specifically explain what's wrong with the conditions in Hong Kong right now?
Chief Secretary for Administration: As I explained earlier in reply to an earlier question, the conditions, in my view, refer to a number of pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, if you like, that if put together within a reasonable period of time will form a picture indicating to all of us in Hong Kong how our democratic system is going to end up. I am talking about end result now, I'm not even talking about the process. The end result includes how do you constitute a parliamentary system, if you like, for want of a better term, that can reflect the key principles that have been set out in the second report of the Task Force which was issued last year, and also which can, at the same time, achieve the kind of parliamentary system that other countries have attained, and that is a proper balance of interests, and whether there is any need for any fail-safe mechanisms. For example, in certain legislatures you have a bicameral system. Why is there a bicameral system? Now these actual questions were already raised in the fourth report of the Task Force last year, but because of the need to address more urgently the electoral arrangements for 2007 and 2008, these questions were not substantively addressed. We think this needs to be addressed. Secondly, how do you provide the kind of channel from the district level up to the LegCo level by way of political talent, political individuals that will regard politics as their lifelong career. How will our District Councils, how will their functions be re-examined and revamped, and a host of other individual questions that are essential for the community to come to a view. So far I don't think there is enough serious discussion about this, and this is what I, for one, at least mean by conditions.
Reporter: A clarification and a question. The clarification is simply whether the bringing of the resolutions is linked or delinked with the subsequent process of bringing local legislation. But the question I have is we already have legislators who are preparing demonstrations because they say, for them, this is shades of Article 23. My question is, are you concerned that December 4 might become another July 1, and if not, why not?
Secretary for Justice: They are not linked to each other. Unless the motion for amendment of the two methods of election is resolved there won't be any local legislation to change the current law relating to the two methods for election.
Chief Secretary for Administration: On the more substantive question raised, I think I have given similar replies to an earlier question along the same vein. At the moment, as I have said from the beginning, in terms of votes in LegCo, we don't have enough votes. That's the objective truth as of today. As regards the other question on marches and so on, could I give you a direct quote i.e. "Mr Hui declines to be drawn on this question". Thank you.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Issued at HKT 19:08
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