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Claudia Mo said adverts were a waste of money. Photo: Edward Wong

HK$5 million spent on adverts before June's political reform vote, HK government reveals

Government in U-turn after lawmaker and Post push for figures to be made public

More than HK$5 million was spent on publicity in just two months before June's farcical vote on political reform, the government revealed on Friday after a lawmaker who had failed to obtain the figure complained to the Ombudsman.

The disclosure implies the reform exercise - which also included two rounds of public consultation that began in 2013 - might have cost taxpayers up to HK$24.4 million. The government earlier said it spent HK$7.2 million on the exercise in the 2013/14 financial year and had set aside another HK$12.1 million in the last financial year, which ended in April.

But the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau refused to clarify on Friday, saying it had "nothing to add".

The also used the Code on Access to Information last month to request the same figures which the bureau had refused to divulge, citing a pending judicial review.

Of HK$5.08 million spent on publicising the contentious reform proposal for the 2017 chief executive election, more than half - HK$3 million - went on ads on buses and the MTR, the bureau told the Civic Party's Claudia Mo Man-ching, who wrote to the Ombudsman last month.

The bureau said it had decided to disclose the figures after taking "further legal advice".

"Apparently the government is trying to avoid a bigger public relations blunder before the Ombudsman publicly calls on them to disclose the information," Mo said as she accused the administration of disrespecting Hongkongers' "right to know".

It also came to light that HK$837,000 was used on controversial electronic media commercials to drum up public support for the reform package - which was voted down when only eight lawmakers voted "yes" following a botched walkout by the pro-establishment camp.

The adverts - aired on radio and television for 2,295 minutes and 2,619 minutes respectively from April to June - became the subject of a judicial review pursued by a retired photojournalist who argued they were not "announcements in the public interest" (APIs) but political acts. Under their licensing conditions, broadcasters must air all APIs.

The government refused the 's request for the advertising spend last month, insisting such a disclosure could affect the proceedings. But lawmakers across the political spectrum criticised that stance, saying it would not have any bearing on the review.

Meanwhile, Mo blasted the government for "pouring taxpayers' money into the sea".

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: HK$5m was spent on reform vote adverts
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