Hong Kong's pro-democracy opposition yesterday vetoed an electoral reform proposal that would have introduced, under certain restrictions, universal suffrage for the 2017 chief minister election. Beijing says opposition lawmakers are hampering efforts to develop democracy in Hong Kong, but the pro-democracy camp argues the proposal amounted to "fake democracy."

The reform, which was backed by the Chinese government and the pro-Chinese loyalist government in Hong Kong, foresaw that a 1,200-member committee would nominate candidates for the post of chief minister. Hong Kong citizens would then vote for one of them under the "one person-one vote" principle.

The pro-democracy opposition argues this system cannot be considered as democratic since the committee retains de facto power over who can run for office.

The committee, which is made up of Legislative Council of Hong Kong members plus representatives of several social and business sectors, is already in place. Up till now it has been responsible for directly picking the chief minister. Hong Kong opposition members say the committee serves Beijing's interests in the autonomous city. Therefore, they argue, the proposed change would only have introduced cosmetic changes, but not a real choice for Hong Kong's 5 million eligible voters.

The planned reform received 8 votes for and 28 against, while 34 lawmakers did not participate in the vote. The pro-democracy bloc is in a minority in the Legislative Council, but under Hong Kong law it only needed one third (24) of the total votes (70) in order to block the measure.

The debate on how to elect the chief minister sparked in 2014 massive pro-democracy protests for months in Hong Kong.

Pro-democracy camp under heavy criticism

Hong Kong chief minister Leung Chun-ying (pro-Chinese loyalist) blamed the opposition for having violated the will of the majority of citizens by voting down the universal suffrage proposal: "I, the Government, and millions of Hong Kong people are naturally disappointed," he said.

A rolling survey by three Hong Kong universities showed over the past few weeks that citizens of the autonomous city were more or less evenly divided over the issue.

In a statement, the Standing Committee of the National Popular Assembly of China said that opposition lawmakers had "undermined Hong Kong's prosperity and stability for their own personal gains."

Further information:

• Follow-up on Nationalia:Beijing to allow universal suffrage in Hong Kong election, Chief Executive nominations to be controlled, Pro-democracy camp protests in Hong Kong: a brief guide to understand why and Hong Kong: an own identity background for a distinct society