Political rumor mills in the city are speeding up as the meaningful date of July 1 approaches, with the latest product having just rolled off the production line of none other than former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang.

Chan has disgraced herself again after both Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and chief secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Friday openly denied her claim that the two have been on bad terms.

People in the city are well aware that rumor-makers from the pro-democrat camp such as Chan have never chattered without a cause. And this time round, Hong Kong people are spared from the hard work of guessing what cause is now driving the rumor mills after Martin Lee Chu-ming, another member of Hong Kong's "Gang of Four", suggested on Wednesday that the more protesters take to the street on July 1 the higher the odds that Hong Kong will have a "genuine universal suffrage" in 2017.

It is crystal clear that the opposition camp is gearing up in their latest campaign to throw mud at the Leung administration and damage people's confidence in the leading team in a bid to incite more people to take to the street. The ulterior object is to coerce the central government into accepting a version of universal suffrage of their own design that does not comply with the relevant provisions of the Basic Law and decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, in hope of snatching the governing power of Hong Kong in 2017 to serve their political agenda, or more precisely the agenda of their bosses.

The "Gang of Four"- with Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and Joseph Zen Ze-kiun as its other two members - have maintained close contacts with officials of the US Consulate in Hong Kong, according to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks in September 2011.

The four have been frequently seen behind several major political events in the past, engineering numerous plots. This time round they are all in action again, championing yet another political cause.

The author is a current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 06/29/2013 page6)