Bickering escalates in pro-Beijing camp over bungled Legco vote on Hong Kong political reform
Recriminations fly among the pro-Beijing camp over bungled vote on electoral reform package that's been described as an 'embarrassment'
Finger-pointing and bickering escalated yesterday among the Legislative Council's Beijing-loyalist camp over Thursday's bungled vote on electoral reform that has left the government's political allies facing their biggest crisis in recent years.
Some called for an explanation while others demanded lessons be learned after the confusing walkout that saw the controversial blueprint for the 2017 chief executive election receive only eight "yes" votes, while the pan-democrats sarcastically thanked Beijing loyalists for their "support" in blocking the resolution.
The fiasco has been described by analysts as an "embarrassment" for Beijing, and the central government's liaison office has been meeting or phoning pro-establishment lawmakers about it over the last two days.
Much of the blame has been placed on business representative and Executive Council member Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung, seen as a key instigator of the walkout in which 31 lawmakers left the chamber in an attempt to force a suspension of the meeting so that Lam's Business and Professionals Alliance colleague, Lau Wong-fat, could make it for the vote on the Beijing-decreed package.
During the drama, seconds before the historic vote was due to proceed, another pro-establishment heavyweight, Ip Kwok-him of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, stood up and ushered everyone to the exit. He apologised for his part yesterday.
WATCH: The day the reform package was defeated in Legco