HONG KONG, Dec. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said late Wednesday night "we have lost an opportunity to take a significant step forward on the road to democracy." He made the remarks at a news conference after the Legislative Council did not adopt the motions for amendments to the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive in 2007 and Forming the Legislative Council in 2008.

    He said he regretted for the fact.

    He said for the past few months, he had hoped for an early Christmas present on democratic development from the Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo) members. "Unfortunately, that wish did not come true."

    He said he knew that there is no alternative but to accept the veto of the package of proposals. "However, that does not make the result any less regrettable or disappointing for me." Regrettable because he does believe that Hong Kong has lost an opportunity to take a significant step forward on the road to democracy, he said.

    Disappointing because the LegCo vote has dashed the hopes of the majority of Hong Kong people who support the government's package for more democratic and open elections, he said. He added that there was a loud and clear call from the people for Legislative Councilors to pass the package. To further broaden support and increase the chances of passage of the package, the government adjusted the package to address the concerns of some legislators and Hong Kong people about the participation of appointed District Council members.

    On the question of a timbale for universal suffrage, here affirmed his pledge to follow up this matter in the Commission on Strategic Development and said he will continue to do his utmost to develop the constitutional system in a steady, solid and orderly manner.

    Despite the government's efforts to meet people's demands, and despite the support of more than half the legislature, the government's package just could not meet the threshold of a two-thirds majority. Therefore, the wishes expressed in a mainstream opinion cannot be fulfilled, he said.

    Now the package has been voted down, the government will not put forward any more proposals regarding the election of the Chief Executive in 2007 and of the Legislative Council in 2008, he said. Within the present framework, the rejected package had already best balanced the interests of various sectors of the community, and had the best hope of being endorsed by the Central Government, he added.

    "Yet, we still could not garner enough votes. This shows there is a serious split of opinion about our constitutional system," Tsang said.

    "Under these circumstances, I do not see any prospect in the near future of devising alternative proposals that could comply with the Basic Law and the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) in April last year on the one hand; and, on the other, be acceptable to the general public, to two-thirds of LegCo Members and to the Central Government," he said.

    "What we can only do now is to adopt the current arrangements in 2007 and 2008, which is in line with last year's NPC interpretation, and just to work on some technicalities, such as the number of term of office the Chief Executive can serve consecutively," he said.

    He said that now the discussion on constitutional development for 2007 and 2008 is over, and that he will have more time to focus on the economic and livelihood issues of great concern to the community.

    He said the discussion on long-term democratic development, however, does not stop here. As the Chief Executive, he said, "I have the responsibility to lead Hong Kong towards the ultimate goal of universal suffrage, as stipulated in the Basic Law." After two years of hard work by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and the entire community, he said, he fully understands just how formidable a task this is. "I will continue to work on this matter with all sectors of the community through the Commission of Strategic Development," Tsang said. Enditem