The Hong Kong legislature is debating the single largest democratic reform in the city's history as a handful of lawmakers hold in their hands the fate of more than three decades of political wrangling over the issue of giving residents the right to vote for their leader.
The government is seeking to secure the two-thirds majority vote needed to alter Hong Kong's mini-constitution.
If the proposal is passed, candidates for the role of chief executive will be vetted by a 1,200-strong committee made up of representatives from different economic, political and social sectors who may support multiple candidates and will recommend and nominate two or three candidates.
