Following is the transcript of the reply by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Raymond Tam, to a reporter's question at a media session after a breakfast meeting on constitutional development at the Central Government Offices this morning (March 21):
Reporter: Some lawmakers have complained that the Liaison Office did not really respond to their comments on some political reform proposals, for example that put forward by HK2020. Do you think it's time to start concrete discussions?
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs: Before the start of the breakfast meeting, a member raised the same question to the Director of the Legal Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). Fairly speaking, the Director has not yet had time to fully read through the proposal. Therefore, he said it was not fair for him to offer any concrete comments at this moment so they just stopped at that juncture. I think it will be for all, not only the Liaison Office but also the SAR Government and all other members of the Legislative Council and various sectors of the community, from now on to start discussions on various concrete proposals. If any proposal could serve the purpose of enriching the discussions and perhaps helping to bridge the differences among various parties, I think it is a very constructive way to take the matter forward.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Friday, March 21, 2014
|