Macau Conscience backs decision to veto reform package

Local pro-democracy organization Macau Conscience issued a statement yesterday expressing its support for the 27 pan-democratic Hong Kong lawmakers ahead of the historic vote at the Hong Kong legislative council to address the Beijing-backed political reform package.
The group titled the bilingual statement “Genuine Universal Suffrage for Hong Kong and Macau,” implying that Beijing should grant local citizens the right to elect their city’s leaders.
Additionally, the group slammed the Chinese “8.31 resolution,” claiming that it “distorts the definition of universal suffrage,” and serves only to “reinforce the interests of the present ruling class.” Under the proposed plan, the rights of Hong Kong voters would in fact be denied.
China’s only two special administrative regions often garner attention from both locals and mainland Chinese when significant political events are to take place. The group also depicted the “political fates of the two cities” as being “closely related,” adding that the citizens of both regions should enjoy “free and fair elections.”
In the last paragraph of their statement, the group reiterates its support for the HK legislators’ collective determination to veto the Beijing proposal, which they regard as offering “fake universal suffrage.”  Staff reporter