One of the things the government is pointing out is the irony that the pan-democrats are going to veto democracy. That's one of their driving points because, if you're a pragmatic person, I think you will appreciate that having some development is better than the existing system. But the pan-democrats are principled, and their principle is that they invoke the international standards reflected in the ICCPR, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 25 of that covenant says that everyone has the right to vote and to stand for elections without unreasonable restrictions. Their starting point is that each of these three restrictions in the 8.31 decision are unreasonable restrictions; hence, they all need to be removed.
So that's their principle, but they don't care what the policy impact or the practical impact might be of the change under the government's proposal. That's why we're stuck. Then, as Alan has just mentioned, they feel that if they went back on their principled position, then they would lose votes.
I just read on my iPhone that Martin Lee today came out and said that the pan-democrats should engage in negotiations with the central government. Maybe something that would come out of that would be that some of those restrictions might be amended and not the complete withdrawal. That's basically what I've been arguing as well: focus on things that are doable, and maybe we can increase the number. That negotiation hasn't happened, and that doesn't look like how it's going to happen. It's unclear how it's going to happen.