chief executive: yesterday we held a by-electionfor legco vacancies, because five legco members had resigned. thanks to all concerned, theby-election was generally smooth and orderly. as we all know, this by-election is uniqueand has generated much controversy. we should respect those who chose to exercise theirrights and cast their vote yesterday. but at the same time, we should not ignore theviews of the silent majority who chose not
Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence, to vote, many of whom believed that the by-electionhad been an abuse of the electoral system and a waste of taxpayers' money. with the by-election now behind us, i hopethat from today on, we can put aside our differences and work together to push our constitutionaladvancement. to do that we must now focus
on the package that is now put on the tablefor 2012 and ask ourselves a few fundamental questions. the first question is, compared with the existingelectoral arrangements, does it represent progress towards greater democracy? second, will the passage of this package laya stronger foundation, than the present electoral system, for implementing universal suffrageelection of the chief executive in 2017 and of the legislative council in 2020? third, for those of our friends wanting moredemocratic reform than what is being offered, is it true that the passage of this packagewill not become an obstacle to realising their
ultimate goals for universal suffrage? fourth, more important, will the passage ofthe package help increase the trust between the central government, the hksar government,legco and the public at large, which in turn will help promote further dialogue, co-operationand consensus on the details of universal suffrage elections. i believe if we sit down to consider thesequestions objectively, the answers are quite obvious. indeed if we look at the recent opinion pollson the reform package, it is clear that however the questions are put, those who want to seelegco approve the reform package are consistently
in the majority. in the coming weeks, my colleagues and i willgo direct to the community, and explain to them the contents and significance of thepackage. i hope that members of the public will spare some time to understand our proposals,and will reflect their views to their legco members. there is still time before legco members haveto make a final decision. before they do, i urge them to listen to the views of thepeople. at stake is nothing less than the future of our democracy, the future of hongkong. we lost a golden opportunity five years ago. we must not let it happen again. thankyou very much.
reporter:...how to pass the political reformpackage now that half a million people have voted against it? chief executive: i think it is important for us to reflect, allof us, where should we go from here. i suggest now, there are fundamental questions we needto answer, and those answers are quite obvious. hong kong people have expressed their views.first of all, all of us want democracy. most of us are content that full universal suffrageelections should take place as scheduled, for the chief executive in 2017 and for legcoin 2020. they've also told us they're generally satisfied with what is put on the table. andthe majority of them have supported, and want
legco to vote in favour of the package puton the table. and yesterday's performance has told us they are tired, they're tired,of violent actions. they want peaceful dialogue, they want objective discussion, they wantus to move ahead, they do not want to stay behind, and stay where we are. thank you verymuch.
chief executive: yesterday we held a by-electionfor legco vacancies, because five legco members had resigned. thanks to all concerned, theby-election was generally smooth and orderly. as we all know, this by-election is uniqueand has generated much controversy. we should respect those who chose to exercise theirrights and cast their vote yesterday. but at the same time, we should not ignore theviews of the silent majority who chose not
Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence, to vote, many of whom believed that the by-electionhad been an abuse of the electoral system and a waste of taxpayers' money. with the by-election now behind us, i hopethat from today on, we can put aside our differences and work together to push our constitutionaladvancement. to do that we must now focus
on the package that is now put on the tablefor 2012 and ask ourselves a few fundamental questions. the first question is, compared with the existingelectoral arrangements, does it represent progress towards greater democracy? second, will the passage of this package laya stronger foundation, than the present electoral system, for implementing universal suffrageelection of the chief executive in 2017 and of the legislative council in 2020? third, for those of our friends wanting moredemocratic reform than what is being offered, is it true that the passage of this packagewill not become an obstacle to realising their
ultimate goals for universal suffrage? fourth, more important, will the passage ofthe package help increase the trust between the central government, the hksar government,legco and the public at large, which in turn will help promote further dialogue, co-operationand consensus on the details of universal suffrage elections. i believe if we sit down to consider thesequestions objectively, the answers are quite obvious. indeed if we look at the recent opinion pollson the reform package, it is clear that however the questions are put, those who want to seelegco approve the reform package are consistently
in the majority. in the coming weeks, my colleagues and i willgo direct to the community, and explain to them the contents and significance of thepackage. i hope that members of the public will spare some time to understand our proposals,and will reflect their views to their legco members. there is still time before legco members haveto make a final decision. before they do, i urge them to listen to the views of thepeople. at stake is nothing less than the future of our democracy, the future of hongkong. we lost a golden opportunity five years ago. we must not let it happen again. thankyou very much.
reporter:...how to pass the political reformpackage now that half a million people have voted against it? chief executive: i think it is important for us to reflect, allof us, where should we go from here. i suggest now, there are fundamental questions we needto answer, and those answers are quite obvious. hong kong people have expressed their views.first of all, all of us want democracy. most of us are content that full universal suffrageelections should take place as scheduled, for the chief executive in 2017 and for legcoin 2020. they've also told us they're generally satisfied with what is put on the table. andthe majority of them have supported, and want
legco to vote in favour of the package puton the table. and yesterday's performance has told us they are tired, they're tired,of violent actions. they want peaceful dialogue, they want objective discussion, they wantus to move ahead, they do not want to stay behind, and stay where we are. thank you verymuch.