Leung gives stinging rebuke for legislators

After the final meeting of the Bills Committee on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Co-location) Bill ended in chaos on Monday, the Legislative Council president warned that lawmakers must abide by laws and guarantee the safety of security officers.

Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, LegCo president and chairman of the administrative LegCo Commission, noted some lawmakers obstructed the security officers who executed the committee chairwoman’s order to remove two misbehaving lawmakers from the meeting. At one point four opposition lawmakers were expelled from the meeting room by LegCo security staff for disorderly conduct.

The eight-hour meeting on Monday witnessed several suspensions as some opposition lawmakers shouted slogans, pounded desks, flung abuse or clapped hands to block proceedings.

The lawmakers who obstructed officers posed a risk to the officers’ safety, Leung said.

“I want to caution relevant lawmakers that according to the LegCo Ordinance, anyone who obstructs the work of on-duty LegCo officers violates the law,” Leung said, cautioning that the LegCo Commission would reserve the right to pursue.

The bills committee on co-location — comprising 64 legislators — finished its near three-month scrutiny on the Hong Kong-mainland joint-checkpoint arrangement late on Monday afternoon, with more than 40 amendments tabled by eight opposition legislators being voted down.

The co-location bill now enters its next stage of legislation; LegCo is expected to resume the debate on the bill on June 6, before the full legislature eventually votes on it, according to the committee’s chairwoman Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee.

After the chaotic meeting, Ip, who is also a member of the Executive Council, the chief executive’s top political advisory body, strongly condemned lawmakers’ disorderly conduct.

Ip said her arrangements were all in accordance with the LegCo Rules of Procedures. “I wrap up the meeting in response to most Hong Kong people’s expectation that the high-speed rail in Hong Kong could start operation on time,” Ip said.

Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan echoed Ip’s sentiments after the meeting. Chan, who also attended the meeting, said according to past surveys, including two public hearings in LegCo, more than 90 percent of people present supported the arrangement.