The HK government has no plan to conduct opinion surveys on universal suffrage in the election of the chief executive in 2007 and the formation of the Legislative Council in 2008, Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam said Wednesday.

"We are now focusing on issues of principles and legal procedures concerning constitutional development under the Basic Law," Lam told legislators.

He said the government will not conduct any opinion polls at this stage because the issues currently in discussion are not suitable for surveys.

But the government has tried to feel the pulse of the community through reading similar polls conducted by civilian groups. "We have relayed the opinions reflected in the polls to relevant central government departments," Lam said.

Legislator Lau Chin-shek asked if central government officials would be invited to listen to public opinion in Hong Kong. Lam said no such plan is on the agenda for the time being.

Opinions of various sectors in Hong Kong were relayed to central government officials when the Task Force on Constitutional Development, headed by Chief Secretary Donald Tsang, visited Beijing last week, Lam said.

The mainland officials said that they were quite aware of the Hong Kong situation, he added.

Lam disclosed that the taskforce had held 21 meetings with political parties, independent legislators, business chambers, political debate groups and academics since January 16.

The team will continue to report to the LegCo Panel on Constitutional Affairs on its progress, and listen to LegCo members' views.

From now until early March, the taskforce will meet more than 30 groups or deputations and put their views on a website to be launched.

But Lam reiterated that the central government has the authority and duty to oversee constitutional development in Hong Kong.

In another development, Shiu Shin-por, executive director of One Country Two Systems Research Institute, said Beijing will definitely not allow universal suffrage to take place in Hong Kong in 2007 and 2008.

"The central government's stance is very clear," Shiu told a seminar on constitutional development last night.

He said the "pro-democracy" camp knows the central government's stance quite well but still pushes for the issue because they want to win more votes in the Legislative Council election in September.

He also criticized the Article 45 Concern Group for twisting the meaning of the Basic Law provisions concerning constitutional development.

Another guest speaker, Raymond Wu, a member of the Committee for the Basic Law, said that the community is full of misconceptions on the issue.

"Universal suffrage is not equivalent to democracy. To link them together is nothing but hijacking democracy," Wu said.

Raymond Tam, principal assistant secretary for constitutional affairs, told the audience that political review is not purely the affair of Hong Kong. The SAR must listen to the central government's views, Tam said.

(China Daily HK Edition February 19, 2004)