THE Executive Council is poised to endorse the new foreign labour scheme today despite threats by the Liberal Party to support the private member's bill championed by the Democratic Party.
On the eve of the Exco meeting, leading Liberals Henry Tang Ying-yen and James Tien Pei-chun said they were 'contemplating support' for the bill sponsored by the Michael Ho Mun-kar if crucial details of the deal were not clarified.
Another Democratic Party legislator Tsang Kin-shing last night staged a sit-in outside the central Government Offices, calling for the scheme to be scrapped.
A government official said the position of the Liberals 'remains to be seen'.
Their siding with the Democrats 'doesn't seem to be consistent with the views of the constituencies they represent', he said.
The official said the business sector did not want the whole scheme scrapped, which would be the result if Mr Ho's bill was passed.
He said they were adamant the revised scheme struck the right balance between the various parties.