Letter to Hong Kong, RTHK Radio 3返回

Mandy Tam
Excerpt from Letter to Hong Kong, RTHK Radio 3, 28 November 2004

"[T]he so-called referendum motion is not well defined. Any referendum law should clearly specify the circumstances that would warrant the holding of a referendum, otherwise it would jeopardize the authority of LegCo as the representative institution. In the context of Hong Kong, the harsh reality is that if the result of the referendum created a legal binding effect, the consequence of it is equivalent be amending or overriding the Basic Law. The referendum could be vetoed by our Central Government. In this case, I am, like most of you, quite certain that the result of the referendum may not be enforceable because there is probably no legal base and it may not be feasible administratively. Not only it will not serve our purpose, but also it may work to our disadvantage: I can foresee that the result is going to be either useless or negative.


Some pro-democracy legislators have said that if the government refuses to hold a referendum, they will organize one by themselves. I really doubt if they have the capacity and logistics to sponsor a respectable and comprehensive referendum? The worst scenario would see an informal referendum done in a messy manner that discredits the pro-democracy camp and yet fails to bring us closer to substantive progress in constitutional reform."


To view the full script, please browse Mandy Tam's website at: http://www.mandytam.com/download/en_lc_letter_home01.pdf