Public 'disgusted' by filibustering, CY Leung says

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has stepped up his rhetoric against radical lawmakers' filibustering, saying the delaying tactics have hurt Hong Kong's competitiveness and "deeply disgusted" the public.

An attempt to delay the passage of the government's budget "has hijacked the will of the majority of lawmakers and residents", he said in a Legislative Council question-and-answer session yesterday.

Such tactics "paralysed the government and the legislature frequently, and it is the residents that are eventually the victims".

Leung also expressed concern that filibustering could derail his plan to set up a new innovation and technology bureau, which he said was important to the city's development.

Pan-democrats filed 1,192 amendments to the budget bill, most sponsored by two People Power lawmakers and "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung of the League of Social Democrats. They call on the government to deliver on a universal pension scheme and give a direct cash handout to all Hongkongers.

Leung said numerous proposals, including an allowance for low-income working families, an increase in the kindergarten vouchers subsidy, a medical allowance for elderly people and an extra allowance for social security recipients, could be delayed by the filibuster.