DAB leader Starry Lee Wai-king says Hong Kong's pro-Beijing camp will 'learn the lesson' of bungled electoral reform vote

The leader of the city's biggest political party apologised again last night for the pro-establishment camp's bungled vote on the government's electoral reform package last month.

Starry Lee Wai-king, chairwoman of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said the camp's walkout from the Legislative Council on June 18 just before the crucial vote was a mistake that "disappointed many".

She was speaking at the party's 23rd anniversary celebration, attended by Beijing representatives and top local officials.

"The mistake that the pro-establishment camp made in the voting process disappointed many of our supporters. We will learn the lesson, work hard and continue to improve ourselves to do a better job," Lee said.

On June 18, seconds before the historic vote on the government's political reform package, 31 pro-establishment lawmakers walked out of the chamber in the mistaken belief that voting would be suspended for 15 minutes so their ally, Lau Wong-fat, could make it in time for the vote.

Only eight Beijing loyalists voted for the package.