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Regarding the request from a student group to meet with the Chief Executive on issues relating to constitutional reform, a spokesman for the Chief Executive's Office today (September 25) reiterated that the Chief Executive and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government understand and respect students' aspirations and perseverance on democracy and their expectations on and willingness to take responsibility for the future of Hong Kong.
The spokesman said that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress adopted on August 31 a decision on the method for selecting the Chief Executive from 2017 onwards. The HKSAR Government will soon launch the second round of public consultation on the basis of this decision.
The spokesman said that the Hong Kong community is generally eager to see the early implementation of universal suffrage for the Chief Executive election in accordance with the law. He expressed the hope that people from different sectors of the community could actively participate in the next round of public consultation with a view to forging a consensus through rational discussions so that we could implement universal suffrage for the Chief Executive election from 2017 onwards and continue to take forward the constitutional development of Hong Kong.
Ends/Thursday, September 25, 2014
Issued at HKT 13:35
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