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The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Stephen Lam, officiated at the 2011 District Council Election launching ceremony this afternoon (September 3). Following is the transcript of Mr Lam's remarks (English portion) at a media session after the ceremony:
Reporter: Mr Lam, what are your comments on the chaos at the public forum on September 1, and will there be an increase in security measures in future public forum?
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs: For every public forum that we host, whether it is in connection with the replacement mechanism or constitutional development, we always liaise with the organising department and the Police Force. And that is for the organisers and the police to determine the level of security protection and arrangements for the occasion. We shall continue to do so. This applied to the public forum which we held two days ago. On that occasion, some protestors refused to comply with the rules set by the organisers and decided to cause this disturbance. But the Police came in and restored order, and the public forum was brought to a conclusion according to the original plan.
So far as I am concerned, I have listened very widely to a full spectrum of views across the political landscape in Hong Kong. Whether it is political parties or functional groups or individuals, they have had a full opportunity to express their views. Therefore, as far as we are concerned, we will continue to comply with the two-month duration for this particular public consultation exercise. Thereafter, we will turn our attention to focusing on organising the District Council election on November 6 and thereafter on the Election Committee Sub-sector election on December 11.
Just a word about the District Council election. It is particularly important that all of us play a full role in the forthcoming District Council election. We now have registered over 3.55 million voters. It is particularly important that we support this District Council election because the elected District Councillors will play a full role in forming the Election Committee and also in the 2012 Legislative Council elections. Therefore I call upon all registered voters to come out to vote on November 6, and all those who have a commitment to serving the community of Hong Kong to consider standing as a candidate.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Saturday, September 3, 2011
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