Hong Kong's chief executive C.Y. Leung said that banking on raw political emotion will get the region's protest nowhere and that clamors for constitutional development and reform should be governed by reason.

In an opinion piece Leung wrote for CNN, the chief executive said the debate about Hong Kong's future should be based on the constitutional framework that would allow the special administrative region (HKSAR) to work within China.

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He said much of the discussion focuses on the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress' (NPCSC) decision on how to elect HKSAR's chief executive by 2017. Leung said such discussion is limited without regard to the details of the nomination process.

Leung said that for now, critics only see that Beijing's nomination framework is too restrictive. He said the fear critics have over candidates hand-picked by Beijing come 2017 is unfounded.

"Such claims are unfounded as we have not even started to discuss the detailed but crucial aspects of the nominating process for potential chief executive candidates," Leung wrote.

He said that this issue will be subject to public consultation would pave way for a legislation that would allow electoral changes for the election in 2017.

Leung also explained how Hong Kong's chief executive will get elected. He reiterated the language of HKSAR's Basic Law and said that its mini-constitution's aim is to uphold universal suffrage chosen by a broad representative nominating committee that observes democratic procedures.

Any change to this process, Leung said, would mean an endorsement by a two-thirds majority of the Legislative Council, his consent as chief executive and a report that will be submitted for NPCSC's approval.

Leung said that right now, Hong Kong has two choices. It could retain the political status quo and follow the current system in which a 1,200-person election committee elects HKSAR's chief executive, or it could adopt NPCSC's recent decision that will allow two or more candidates from whom five million eligible Hong Kong voters can choose during a full-fledged election.

Leung remains hopeful that the current political dilemma will be resolved and that legislators will address the historic issue in time for the region's universal suffrage in 2017.

Tagspolitics, Politics of Hong Kong