Hong Kong lawmakers explain botched walkout that left reform plan with just 8 votes of support

The lawmaker who initiated a botched walkout by pro-establishment legislators that left them unable to take part in a vote they had hailed as “historic” has apologised for “miscommunication” as allies and foes slammed his “unwise” manoeuvre.

Speaking after the government’s reform package collapsed in the Legislative Council today – receiving just eight votes, with 28 against – lawmaker Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung  took the blame for encouraging his pro-establishment colleagues to depart  moments before the vote. The Business and Professionals Alliance member said he had been attempting to delay the vote so his party colleague, veteran rural kingpin Lau Wong-fat,  could get to the chamber.

The plan backfired; the meeting remained quorate as more than half of the lawmakers remained in the chamber, and Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing  went ahead with the vote.

“Uncle Fat has been ill but he has always wanted to come back and vote,” Lam said. “We wanted to let him fulfil his wish so we asked for a 15-minute suspension. But due to a communication gap, some of us didn’t join the walkout. I apologise for this.”

Lau, 79, has long been a dominant figure in the New Territories, but has recently begun to wind down his activities, handing over the chairmanship of powerful rural affairs body the Heung Yee Kuk  to his son.

Lau later told the South China Morning Post he had been in Kowloon Tong this morning and got stuck in traffic on the way to the Legco building in Admiralty. He said he had told Lam in recent days that he was keen to cast his vote, and had been receiving updates from his colleagues this morning.