Liberals table amendment to bill on Legco by-elections
The Liberal Party will today table an amendment to the government's bill to scrap Legislative Council by-elections that would allow such a vote in the event a mid-term vacancy arose from death or serious illness.
Party chairwoman Miriam Lau Kin-yee said yesterday it had yet to decide whether to support the government's proposal if the administration snubbed its suggestion.
Under the government's revised plan, a vacancy would be filled by the candidate placed next on the same party ticket as the departing member.
Meanwhile, speaking at RTHK's City Forum yesterday, former security minister Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee expressed sympathy for Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung, who has borne the brunt of criticism in promoting the controversial bill. 'You people really shouldn't humiliate him. It's just a job for him,' said Ip, who came under fire when she promoted the national security legislation in 2003.
However, she said she was surprised by the government's refusal to launch a public consultation on the bill to scrap by-elections, a move that the administration undertook for the national security legislation. Ip, lawmaker and chairwoman of the New People's Party, has urged the bill postponement and a consultation.
