The senior lawyer says passing the bill before next poll should not be the target
A member of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's cabinet has warned the government not to set itself the target of passing new national security laws ahead of next year's Legislative Council elections.
Andrew Liao Cheung-sing, an Executive Council member and leader of a legal delegation to Beijing this week, said trying to push the laws through the next Legislative Council session would create an artificial deadline and this should be avoided.
Fellow Exco member Tsang Yok-sing, leader of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong, has already said the laws should be left until after the poll.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post after meeting mainland officials, Mr Liao said: 'It should not be a question of whether to implement Article 23 before the Legco elections or after. If you do that, you are again raising the question of a time limit. I am inclined to the view that really what the government should do is to try to consult and explain the proposed laws and allay the public's concerns and fears.
'When the government feels comfortable it has the general acceptance and understanding of the public, that is the time to legislate.'
Mr Liao was speaking after the legal delegation had been told by senior National People's Congress officials on Tuesday that Hong Kong had a duty to pass the laws, but that there was no deadline by which this must be done.