Meeting budget deadline impossible, Jasper Tsang warns

The budget bill could not be passed by Wednesday even if the weeks-long filibuster ended, Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing said last night.

Officials have warned that funding for public services would be disrupted the next day.

Tsang said the bill could not be tabled for a final vote unless the four filibustering lawmakers withdrew the 700 amendments delaying it.

Otherwise, even if the filibuster ended - an option legislators are expected to discuss today - the proposed amendments would still have to be tabled for a vote one by one. This made it impossible for the bill to be voted on by Wednesday, Tsang said.

"I have come up with … ideas [to handle the situation]. I must … consult [all opinions]," he said.

Lawmaker Ip Kwok-him, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said he believed Tsang would announce that he was putting an end to the filibuster, which would be followed by time for lawmakers to discuss it.