Hong Kong, June 18 (IANS): Hong Kong's legislators on Thursday voted against an electoral reform package, with eight voting in favour of the proposal and 28 against.

The package calls for only two or three candidates to contest for the post of chief executive of Hong Kong. They require the majority support of a Nominating Committee of 1,200 before five million eligible Hong Kong voters get their say, Channel News Asia reported.

The vote followed their debate on the contentious blueprint for how Hong Kong chooses its next leader in 2017, which began on Wednesday with pro-democracy lawmakers sticking to their guns, pledging to veto what they call a "fake" democratic model.

Before the vote started, 33 pro-China legislators had walked out, while pro-democracy supporters stood in solidarity.

Weeks of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong late last year posed the biggest challenge in years for China's ruling Communist Party.