梁振英为有关香港选举言论表示遗憾

CY Leung, Hong Kong’s chief executive, has expressed his regrets over the “misunderstanding” caused when he said that giving too much power to low-income voters would lead to populist government policies.

香港特首梁振英(CY Leung)对他的言论所造成的“误解”感到遗憾，他曾表示，将过多权力赋予低收入选民将带来民粹主义政府政策。

Mr Leung said last week in an interview with the Financial Times and other media that basing Hong Kong’s electoral system on “numeric representation” would force politicians to pay much more attention to those earning below the median household income. “You would end up with that kind of politics and policies,” he said.

梁振英上周在接受英国《金融时报》和其他媒体的采访时表示，如果让香港的选举制度基于“数字化代表法”，将迫使政治人士将更多的注意力转向那些收入低于家庭收入中值的人群。他表示：“你将得到那样的政治和政策。”

As examples, Mr Leung said the economically unimportant sports and religious sectors would also be sidelined in such a system.

梁振英举例说，在这种体制下，经济上并不重要的体育和宗教界别也将遭到排挤。

Inequality is a sensitive topic in the former British territory, where, according to the charity Feeding Hong Kong, one in five people live in poverty.

在这个前英国殖民地，不平等是一个敏感话题。慈善组织乐饷社(Feeding Hong Kong)称，在这里，每5人就有1人生活在贫困之中。

On Tuesday, Mr Leung sought to appease those angered by his remarks, some of whom staged a small protest outside his residence last week. In response to a reporter’s question before an executive council meeting, Mr Leung said he should have been “clearer” in explaining his stance on the current electoral system.

周二，梁振英试图平息他的上述言论所招致的愤怒情绪，其中一些人上周在他的住所外举行了小规模抗议活动。在出席一次行政会议之前回答一位记者的提问时，梁振英表示，他本应“更清楚”地解释自己对当前选举制度的立场。

“I know my words were unclear, and this caused some concern and misunderstanding among grass-roots [poor] people, the religious sector and the sports sector,” he said. “I regret that.”

“我知道我的措辞不是很清楚，这在基层（穷人）、宗教界别和体育界别引起了一些担忧和误解，”他表示，“我对此感到遗憾。”

Pro-democracy protesters have been on the streets for a month now, blocking roads in three busy districts of the city to campaign for changes to the way Hong Kong chooses its chief executive.

支持民主的抗议活动已持续一个月，示威者在香港3个繁忙街区设置路障，呼吁改变选举产生香港特首的方式。

Hundreds remained camped out in the main highway outside government offices in the city centre, sleeping in tents and living on donations of food and water.

数百人仍在香港特区政府大楼外的主要道路上扎营，晚上睡在帐篷里，依靠捐赠的食品和水生活。

As the protests have dragged on, Mr Leung’s approval rating has dropped from 45 per cent in August to just under 39 per cent now, according to the latest survey by Hong Kong University.

在抗议活动持续之际，根据香港大学(Kong University)的最新调查，梁振英的支持率已从8月的45%降至现在的不到39%。

Last week the government and student activists held the first round of talks since the protests began on September 26. However, despite two hours of televised debate, progress towards ending the civil disobedience campaign remains elusive.

上周，香港政府和学生活动人士举行了自9月26日抗议开始以来的首轮对话。然而，尽管进行了两个小时的电视直播辩论，但在结束这场公民抗命方面依未取得进展。

Benny Tai, one of the leaders of the Occupy Central protest group, on Monday called on the government to hold a non-binding referendum on the issue of electoral reform, saying that such a move would likely bring an end to the street protests.

“占中”领导人之一戴耀廷(Benny Tai)周一呼吁政府就选举改革举行一场没有约束力的全民公投。他说，此类举措很可能结束街头抗议活动。

Under current government proposals, about 5m residents will get to vote for the first time in the next election in 2017. However, critics complain that the list of candidates will remain in the hands of just 1,200 people drawn from the elite.

按照香港政府当前的提议，约500万居民将在2017年的选举中首次参与投票。然而，批评人士抱怨称，候选人名单依然掌握在来自精英阶层的区区1200名人士的手中。

The government insists that such a system is prescribed by the Basic Law – Hong Kong’s constitution – leaving them with little option for change.

香港政府坚称，这一制度是《基本法》（香港的宪制文件）规定的，这让他们没有改变的余地。

However, former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten said in an opinion piece for Project Syndicate on Tuesday that Mr Leung has “considerable room for manoeuvre”, and called on him to ”demonstrate some statesmanship”.

然而，香港末任总督彭定康(Chris Patten)周二在《Project Syndicate》上发表评论文章指出，梁振英有着“相当大的回旋空间”，呼吁他“展示一些政治家的水平”。