| Transcript of SCA's standup briefing |
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Following is the transcript of a standup briefing given by the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, Mr Stephen Lam, after officiating at a prize presentation ceremony at RTHK this morning (July 2) :
SCA: The position of the SAR Government is consistently to listen to the views of the public and also to take forward Hong Kong's constitutional development according to the Basic Law. Last year, we put forth the 07/08 package to incorporate District Councillors into the system for returning the Chief Executive (CE) and for selecting the Legislative Council (LegCo). That package was supported by about 60 per cent of the population. Even though we were not able to secure two-thirds majority in the LegCo for taking forward this particular package, we are very committed to taking forward practical steps to further democratic progress in Hong Kong according to the Basic Law. That's why in the course of the last six months, we have commenced discussions in the Commission on Strategic Development (CSD). We have just concluded on our discussions regarding the principles enshrined in the Basic Law about universal suffrage. In the course of July, we will commence our discussions on specific models for implementing universal suffrage for the CE and thereafter we will commence our discussions on various models for implementing universal suffrage for the LegCo. We are hopeful that in the light of these discussions, we will be able to put forward a report to summarise the conclusions reached by early 2007 and that this particular report, which will be made public and will be put to Beijing, will actually provide a broad basis for us to take forward discussions on democratic developments between 2007 and 2012. (Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) Ends/Sunday, July 2, 2006 |