| SCMA answers media questions after attending LegCo's Subcommittee meeting |
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Following is the transcript of Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Mr Stephen Lam's answers to media questions today (May 3) after attending a meeting of the Legislative Council's Subcommittee on the Package of Proposals for the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive and for Forming the Legislative Council in 2012: Reporter: Two questions if I could, please. The first question is: Are you willing to accept the Alliance for Universal Suffrage's proposal to form some kind of working group to discuss issues? Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs: What I would say is that we have met twice now with the Alliance for Universal Suffrage. On the last occasion, when they met the Chief Secretary for Administration and myself, both sides agreed that we should meet again in May. Some time during this month, we will arrange a further meeting to engage one another. We believe that for dealing with the 2012 constitutional reforms package, continuation of rational dialogue will be conducive to the formation of consensus and to enable Hong Kong's democratic arrangements to move ahead. Reporter: Just to clarify before I ask my second question, does that mean "yes" you will accept this proposal? Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs: We have not yet received the formal proposal from the Alliance for Universal Suffrage. When we do receive their formal proposal, we will consider this very carefully. But whatever the final arrangements, the overall principle is that the Administration is very ready and willing to engage the Alliance for Universal Suffrage and other political parties or political groups. Reporter: My second question is: Are you the person who discussed with Legislative Council President Tsang Yok-sing on his voting on the question of the political package? Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs: What I would say is that the Administration as a whole has consistently maintained that we respect the position of the Legislative Council President in terms of his fulfilling his constitutional role, and we will respect whatever decision that he takes in this regard. (Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) Ends/Monday, May 3, 2010 |