Pro-democracy lawmakers appear ready to veto a government plan for political reforms today because they say the changes don't go far enough.
Their opposition came despite the government's offer of last-minute concessions by cutting the number of appointed city councilors who will serve on a panel that picks the territory's leader.
Pro-democracy lawmakers blasted the Beijing-backed proposal for failing to address popular demands for a timetable for universal suffrage. They denounced the minor concession as mere "window-dressing."
"Without a timetable, we won't support the package," said Lee Wing-tat (
Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (
The opposition camp holds 25 seats in the legislature dominated by pro-Beijing and pro-government figures. The government is struggling to persuade at least six pro-democracy lawmakers to vote for the proposal, but many said yesterday that they will reject it.
"The proposal is unacceptable as it is," said opposition Legislator Albert Cheng (
In its original reform package, the Hong Kong government had proposed doubling the size of the 800-member panel charged with selecting the territory's leader and adding 10 seats to the legislature.
The plan would add 529 city councilors to the leader selection panel and five seats for district councilors in the legislature.
But tens of thousands of people marched two weeks ago to demand full democracy, prompting Tsang to say he'd make some changes to the proposal.
SUPPORT: Elon Musk’s backing for the far-right AfD is also an implicit rebuke of center-right Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz, who is leading polls German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took a swipe at Elon Musk over his political judgement, escalating a spat between the German government and the world’s richest person. Scholz, speaking to reporters in Berlin on Friday, was asked about a post Musk made on his X platform earlier the same day asserting that only the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party “can save Germany.” “We have freedom of speech, and that also applies to multi-billionaires,” Scholz said alongside Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal. “But freedom of speech also means that you can say things that are not right and do not contain
Pulled from the mud as an infant after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and reunited with his parents following an emotional court battle, the boy once known as “Baby 81” is now a 20-year-old dreaming of higher education. Jayarasa Abilash’s story symbolized that of the families torn apart by one of the worst natural calamities in modern history, but it also offered hope. More than 35,000 people in Sri Lanka were killed, with others missing. The two-month-old was washed away by the tsunami in eastern Sri Lanka and found some distance from home by rescuers. At the hospital, he was
Two US Navy pilots were shot down yesterday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the US military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of US targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one sustaining minor injuries. However, the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become over the ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite US and European military coalitions patrolling the area. The US military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the
MILITANTS TARGETED: The US said its forces had killed an IS leader in Deir Ezzor, as it increased its activities in the region following al-Assad’s overthrow Washington is scrapping a long-standing reward for the arrest of Syria’s new leader, a senior US diplomat said on Friday following “positive messages” from a first meeting that included a promise to fight terrorism. Barbara Leaf, Washington’s top diplomat for the Middle East, made the comments after her meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus — the first formal mission to Syria’s capital by US diplomats since the early days of Syria’s civil war. The lightning offensive that toppled former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8 was led by the Muslim Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in al-Qaeda’s
RSS