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Livelihood before politics

With the next Chief Executive not due until 2017, launching consultations on the mode of the election at this stage is by no means more urgent than tackling pressing social and livelihood problems that threaten to divide Hong Kong society further.

By insisting on prioritizing livelihood and economic issues over constitutional reform when questioned by lawmakers in the Legislative Council on Thursday, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has demonstrated that his administration is a responsible one.

The city is faced with deep-rooted problems, including housing shortage, the wealth gap and an ageing population. Tackling housing woes has topped the Leung administration's working agenda as the problem is not only splitting Hong Kong society, it's threatening to develop into a full-blown property bubble, which will be catastrophic to the economy if left unattended.

Given the controversies surrounding constitutional reform, launching consultations too early could only distract the government from its efforts to tackle social and livelihood issues to the detriment of the overall public interests.

The Leung administration is on the right track by confronting these problems - building up its land bank for housing by every means and exploring ways proactively to develop and diversify the economy. It has also successfully coped with short-term challenges, such as the influx of pregnant mainland mothers, the baby formula shortage and the parallel trading problem. It deserves to be given more time and leeway to handle these issues.

As the city pushes ahead with political reform, universal suffrage will eventually be introduced as stipulated in the Basic Law. But, for now, there's no reason for us to be in a rush to launch consultations, with the next Chief Execution election still far away.

Elections should never be the only concern of our politicians. Helping to cope with the city's deep-rooted problems should also be part of their endeavors.

The author is a current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 07/12/2013 page1)