'A Beijing official told me to stop filibusters,' Hong Kong Legco chief reveals
Council president says he rejected demand from central government figure to stop filibusters and stressed he was bound by rules
A central government official has urged Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing to manage the chamber "well" - and clamp down on the filibuster campaign staged as part of the pan-democrats' protest against Beijing's restrictive electoral reform framework.
But Tsang - who did not reveal the identity of the official - said he instantly rejected the demand because as president he was bound by Legco rules.
"An official from the central government has told me to manage Legco well and I should stop the filibusters when it is appropriate," he told a radio programme yesterday.
"But I told that official I cannot stop [filibusters] whenever I deem it appropriate because I can only act in accordance with the Legco rules of procedure."
Tsang added the Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution, entitles the Legco to decide its own rules of procedure - and he believed the central government would not take the political risk of interfering with the legislature.
"The central government has been very cautious [about] when it uses its power to reinterpret the Basic Law. And I don't think the current situation would make Beijing revise the Basic Law [to interfere in Legco affairs]," he said.