HONG KONG, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Leaders of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement said Friday they would seek a poll to determine if city authorities' proposals should be accepted.
The major protest groups -- Occupy Central, the Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism -- will hold a vote Sunday evening. They will determine the level of support of two proposed actions: that of discussing the 2017 election methods in a multilateral platform, and whether a report by Hong Kong officials to Beijing would have any use.
The Chinese central government's insistence that candidates for elected offices be vetted by Beijing is the root cause of demonstrations, protests and street closings in Hong Kong for several weeks. The protesters have called for constitutional changes, including full democracy in Hong Kong, starting in 2015.
Protest leaders and city officials held their first meeting Tuesday but little progress was made. The lead government negotiator, Carrie Lam, suggested the city send a report to Beijing, outlining the protesters' grievances, as well as a proposal to establish a platform for future dialogue between protesters and the city government.
She stressed, though, Hong Kong could not "decide on its own political development"; it remains one of China's special administrative regions.
HKFS leader Alex Chow dismissed the government's offers, but Thursday told followers they would have input on the proposals.
"The government always says that the students don't represent the people in the plaza and Hong Kong citizens, so we are here to make all our voices heard and we will tell the government clearly what we think."
2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.
Continued here:
Hong Kong pro-democracy supporters to be polled