'No need for lawmaker in scandal to quit'
The evidence surrounding an alleged sex scandal involving Democratic Party legislator Kam Nai-wai did not warrant his immediate resignation, party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan said yesterday.
But as new claims emerged over the lawmaker's sacking of his assistant allegedly because the latter rejected his advances, Ho said Kam's resignation would be inevitable if it was proved that he had a credibility problem.
'As party chairman, I will not, at this stage, ask him to resign based on the information I have right now,' Ho said. 'I do not know what will happen after the investigation, but right now the seriousness of his mistake does not warrant his resignation.' Ho was responding to growing speculation that Kam was considering resigning from the legislature.
Last night, the Legislative Council Secretariat received a copy of a complaint letter from a member of the public addressed to the Democratic Party over the incident. It has been referred to the council's complaints section for follow up.
The Democratic Party will discuss the matter at its central committee meeting on Thursday before deciding whether to launch a full-scale investigation, and whether non-party members will be invited to sit on the panel to increase accountability. Since the scandal broke in the media on Sunday, party leaders have sought to limit damage to the party's image by publicly pledging to launch an internal investigation into whether Kam sexually harassed his assistant, Kimmie Wong, before sacking her last month.
The row took a new twist yesterday when former Civic Party legislator Mandy Tam Heung-man, whom Wong worked for before Tam lost her seat in the 2008 Legco election, said Kam had allegedly 'expressed his affection' towards Wong on at least two occasions before her sacking. Tam said Wong had told her the details of the incident, but she did not want to elaborate.
'The problem now is not whether Kam has wrongfully dismissed his assistant, but whether he has fired her after her rejection of his advances. He has publicly lied about ever making any expression of affection and he must resign for losing his credibility,' Tam said.
Speaking in an RTHK interview yesterday, Kam reiterated that he had not sexually harassed Wong or expressed any affection to her.
'I am making this very clear: I have not made any affectionate advances,' Kam said.
But he admitted his decision to sack her was inappropriate, and said he considered Wong's performance to be satisfactory. 'Thinking back, I would not have fired her if I had the chance to do it again.'
While repeated attempts to reach Wong were unsuccessful, Tam said Wong was sacked on the morning of September 24 after a heated argument between the pair.
Wong, who has complained to friends about Kam's alleged advances to her, has filed a complaint to the Democratic Party leadership. She has met Ho and party vice-chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing.
Wong has contacted the Equal Opportunities Commission to inquire whether it can help but the response was 'lukewarm', she said.
A spokeswoman for the commission said she would not comment on individual cases. But she called on any victims of alleged sexual harassment to come forward and to file a complaint to the commission.
