Hong Kong's democracy advocate bows out of elections
Updated
In Hong Kong, the leading democracy advocate, Anson Chan has announced that she won't be seeking a second term in September's Legislative Council elections.
The announcment comes as the Democrats in Hong Kong have urged visiting Chinese Vice President, Xi Jinping, to allow swifter implementation of direct elections.
Presenter: Girish Sawlani
Speaker: , Anson Chan, outgoing member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council and democracy advocate
SAWLANI: She was the first ever Chinese to hold the position of chief secretary when Hong Kong was still a British colony. For decades, Anson Chan has been the face for democracy on the island.
Since the handover to China in 1997, she has been campaigning tirelessly for the island to attain universal suffrage - earning her the reputation of being "the conscience of Hong Kong."
But the 68 year old veteran is quitting mainstream politics - announcing that she won't seek re-election to the legislative council this September - choosing instead to help nurture Hong Kong's next generation of democratic leaders.
CHAN: Well, I'm looking at the bigger picture. Now that we have two firm dates for universal suffrage, the year 2017 for the election of the Chief Executive and the year 2020 for election of all members of the legislature. I feel personally, that it's extremely important to make sure by those dates, we have as many qualified politicians who support democracy, who are in tune with the expectations of the community so that there is genuine choice for the electorate. I think it's more important to encourage aspiring young politicians to participate in election and to experience the trials and tribulations of elections including defeat as the tides of public opinion is against them and in that way learn.
SAWLANI: Analyst says your withdrawal would hurt the prospects of the pro democracy camp in the legislative council. What's your response to those claims?
CHAN: The fight for democracy cannot just depend on one person. It must depend on collective efforts on everybody pulling in the right direction and I think there's a growing view within the community that is only through exercising one-man-one-vote, that we can have good governance because recent incidents have convinced the people that a political appointment system that lacks popular mandate where the chief executive is able to hand pick 30 odd of the top posts within the government behind closed doors is just not the way to go. So we need to develop our future politicians on a firm basis.
SAWLANI: You've said its best for you to make way for the younger candidates to keep the pro-democracy flag flying. Doe that mean the next generation of democrats are ready to step in?
CHAN: Well, we'll see. I think we have some ambitious, intelligent, able people around who are willing to participate in the political process and I'm saying we should give them an opportunity. You've got to start somewhere. I think this is an excellent opportunity to get some new blood into the legislature.
SAWLANI: Indeed, China's vice-president, Xi Jinping arrived on Sunday and met with local officials. I understand that the democrats have been urging him to implement swifter direct elections. So have these concerns been taken into account in Beijing?
CHAN: Well I think it's a pity that members of the legislature were not able to meet directly with the vice president to express our concerns over faster pace of democracy and indeed to reflect community views on a whole range of livelihood issues. The real benefit of a state visit like this is precisely for the leaders to meet with the average man in the street and to meet with the people's representatives in the legislature. I hope that next time when we have visits from leaders, that such visits will be arranged.
SAWLANI: Some have argued that the void that you and other veterans like Martin Lee leave behind would take the heat off the push to attain universal suffrage by 2017 as you mentioned. Do you think that could happen?
CHAN: No. I think Martin and I and many others will continue to push very forcefully for a roadmap for acceptable interim arrangements in the year 2012. But the roadmap is important because we need to know what the end game is. The government needs to assure us that we will achieve genuine democracy, genuine universal suffrage in the year 2017 and 2020.
SAWLANI: Do you fear that Beijing may not keep its promise?
CHAN: I actually have a good deal of faith in the central government. I think central government realizes that they cannot put the break on universal suffrage forever. That's why they've given us these two dates. I'm willing to take them at their word. I think it's important for Hong Kong people to rally together and convince the government that we want genuine universal suffrage.
SAWLANI: You've said that you'll be more effective working outside the legislative council to set the base for a democratic government. How will you seek to do that?
CHAN: First of all, I intend to devote more time to the guidance and mentoring of future electoral candidates. I have also set up a citizen's commission on constitutional development and I'm the convenor of the steering group. This citizen's commission is to provide a missing platform for the community to take an interest in the whole package of constitutional reforms to grasp the essentials and to provide a platform for people to talk about possible models and possible strategy. We're going to assemble all these views and reflect them to the government. I've done this because I have grave doubts as to the government's sincerity in genuinely consulting the public.
