Background:
NPCSC ruled out the plan of universal suffrage of the CE and LegCo in 2012, but postponed the reforms to 2017. The government then began consultation on the CE and LegCo elections methods but the proposal was far from satisfactory in the eyes of the pan-democrats as it was limited and very similar to the rejected one in 2005.
Details:
The Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats launched the De-facto Referendum campaign by having one LegCo member from each of the 5 constituencies to resign. The resignations triggered 5 by-elections in each constituency. The two parties argued that this was essentially a referendum, and urged voters to vote in favor of their candidates (those who resigned) if they support genuine universal suffrage. On the other hand, at about the same time, some moderate democrats, notably the Democratic Party, sought to negotiate for an improved political reform proposal. Building on the original proposal, they introduced some democratic elements into the nominally functional seats in the proposal. Eventually they publicly went to the Liaison Office (Beijing's organ in Hong Kong) to discuss on the proposal.
Consequences:
As the pro-establishment camp boycotted the by-elections, the De-facto Referendum campaign ended anti-climatically. All resigned legislators were re-elected, but the turnout was dismal (17%). The government treated the whole process as a by-election and argued that Hong Kong had no provisions for an actual referendum. A consensus was reached between the moderate democrats and Beijing at the eleventh hour and an improved reform was passed in the LegCo with their support. The Democratic Party was heavily criticized for their negotiations with Beijing, the "betrayal" of the De-facto referendum campaign (the moderate democrats half-heartedly mobilize their supporters in the campaign), and the minimal improvements in the final proposal. Radical democrats vowed to "punish" the moderate democrats, and this furthered the split of the pan-democrats.
News Report from South China Morning Post, 09 September 2009
News Report from South China Morning Post, 20 January 2010
News Report from South China Morning Post, 25 March 2010
Pro-Beijing commentary, Wen Wei Po, 17 May 2010 (Chinese) (English-translated)
Pro-Democracy commentary, Apple Daily, 17 May 2010 (Chinese) (English-translated)