LegCo descends into chaos
Opposition tries to scuttle special meeting as chair steps in to break months-long deadlock
Hong Kong’s legislature descended into chaos on Friday as opposition lawmakers mounted a fierce attempt to scuttle a special meeting held to resolve its protracted gridlock.
Pandemonium broke out when a special meeting of the Legislative Council’s House Committee, presided over by incumbent chairperson Starry Lee Wai-king, was convened hours after the committee again failed to elect a chairperson at its 17th meeting chaired by opposition legislator Dennis Kwok Wing-hang.
During the first two hours of the special meeting, opposition lawmakers sparked a melee when Chu Hoi-dick climbed onto the wall behind the podium trying to break through a security cordon, while Chan Chi-chuen made several unsuccessful attempts to push his way onto the podium where Lee was seated, flanked by security guards.
Other opposition legislators were also seen jostling with pro-establishment lawmakers and security guards, and kept chanting slogans. The mayhem forced Lee to adjourn the meeting for five minutes. One opposition lawmaker was injured and taken to hospital.
The chaotic scenes were reminiscent of a meeting on May 11 last year, when opposition lawmakers tried to block the passage of the now-withdrawn extradition law amendment bill. In that incident, Abraham Shek Lai-him was besieged by opposition lawmakers and prevented from presiding over a meeting to select a chairman for the committee to scrutinize the bill.
In Friday’s commotion, Lee ordered 10 of the opposition lawmakers to be expelled from the chamber and continued deliberations with the others on the committee’s urgent matters. The failure of the House Committee to pick a chairperson since October last year, due to continued filibustering by opposition lawmakers, has resulted in 14 bills on urgent matters being held back. The bills include those on the extension of maternity leave, the appointment of the city’s chief justice, and the national anthem law.
Before ending the session, Lee said she had prudently exercised powers under the LegCo regulations, adding she will continue to convene such meetings.
Earlier, two independent senior counsels told the meeting that Lee, as the current committee chairperson, has the power to conduct the committee’s business.
Executive Council member and barrister Ronny Tong Ka-wah called the violence in the legislature unacceptable, and warned that lawmakers have to bear the legal consequences for breaching the law.
Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, former president of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, described the chaos as “unprecedented”.
The opposition lawmakers have reneged on their oaths of office, neglected their duties as legislators and deliberately acted against the interests of Hong Kong due to their hardline political agenda, she said. Fan added that they have lost all dignity and had acted like “street fighters”.
She stressed that all lawmakers were elected by people of Hong Kong. Fan therefore urged the public to think carefully when voting in the LegCo election in September.
Members of the public, such as pregnant women who’re unable to enjoy extended maternity leave due to the LegCo deadlock, could also seek aid from the courts, Tong said.
In an advertisement published in several local Chinese-language newspapers, a mother-to-be, who’s 28 weeks’ pregnant, said she has been looking forward to extended maternity leave for a long time, but the LegCo impasse has dampened her hopes.
“What else can I expect? Should the rights of parents and babies continue to be ignored?” she asked.