Pro-democracy legislators to quit in protest

A group of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers are to quit this month in a protest aimed at drawing attention to the pace of democratic reforms.

HONG KONG, January 11, 2010 (AFP) - A group of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers are to quit this month in a protest aimed at drawing attention to the pace of democratic reforms in the city, party officials said Monday.

Five of 23 pro-democracy politicians are to give up their seats in the former British colony's 60-seat legislature in the hope of speeding up progress towards direct elections, said Civic Party Secretary General Kenneth Chan.

They hope that by resigning they can force by-elections that will become a de-facto referendum on the controversial issue, two months after critics lashed out at the latest blueprint for direct polls.

At present, only half of Hong Kong's legislature is directly elected while a largely pro-Beijing committee effectively controls the selection of the remainder and appoints the city's chief executive.

"This is a very critical moment as far as the democracy movement is concerned," Chan told reporters.

"We think the de-facto referendum is a very important opportunity for Hong Kong citizens as a whole to express their strong desire for democracy in Hong Kong as soon as possible."

The five, who will step down January 27, have not yet been named.

Thousands of people took to the streets on New Year's Day to call for universal suffrage and the release of jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, sparking criticism from Beijing's top official in Hong Kong.

Beijing has said the chief executive could be directly elected by 2017 and the legislature by 2020, while pro-democracy lawmakers want universal suffrage in 2012.

Critics charged that the latest democracy plan was vague and left the door open to Beijing maintaining control over the city, which was handed back to China in 1997.