Pan-democrats make grab for Legco chairmanships as reform bargaining chip

Pan-democrat lawmakers have made a surprise grab for the chairmanships of two key Legislative Council subcommittees.

The move, part of their campaign of non-cooperation on political reform, means government bills are likely to face more obstacles and lengthier scrutiny.

All but one of the 27 democrats signed up to join the Public Works and Establishment subcommittees minutes before the deadline for an annual reshuffle.

The two subgroups of Legco's powerful Finance Committee scrutinise government proposals for public works expenditure and changes to the civil service structure before they go to the main committee for approval.

"We want to force concessions from the government on political reform by controlling their expenditure proposals," the Labour Party's chairman, Lee Cheuk-yan, said.

Pan-democrats will outnumber pro-establishment lawmakers by six on the Public Works subcommittee and by 12 on the Establishment subcommittee. The chairman is voted in by a simple majority of members.

Pan-democrats hope the obstacles they can create will pressure the administration to negotiate with them over Beijing's restrictive framework for electoral reform, which rule out an open vote for chief executive in 2017.