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Hong Kong Budget 2016-2017
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Albert Chan Wai-yip (left), "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, and Raymond Chan Chi-chuen addressing the media after a Legco meeting on the copyright bill in January. Photo: Nora Tam

Itching to filibuster: radical Hong Kong lawmakers submit nearly 2,000 amendments to halt city’s 2016-17 budget

Three pan-democrats argue annual blueprint neglects city’s disadvantaged

Radical lawmakers have submitted around 2,000 amendments to filibuster the 2016-17 budget which they claim neglects the needs of the city’s disadvantaged while favouring the wealthy.

The move came as lawmakers began debating the government blueprint on Wednesday.

So far, the Legco secretariat has received 2,169 amendments to this year’s budget.

Cut it out: Hong Kong construction workers rally outside Legislative Council to denounce filibustering

The majority came from three radical lawmakers: People Power’s Albert Chan Wai-yip and Raymond Chan Chi-chuen and League of Social Democrats’ “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung.

The People Power duo put forward 460 amendments, while Leung submitted 1,500.

Albert Chan described the budget this year as “even more unfair than past years”, particularly for low-income earners, and continuing to “favour the wealthy and powerful”. He cited the absence of a public housing rent waiver in the financial blueprint as an example of its imbalance.

Lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip says the planned budget unfairly favours the wealthy and powerful. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

The People Power lawmakers demanded the government give a HK$10,000 cash handout to all the city’s residents as well as set up a fund for a universal pension scheme in light of the city’s large fiscal reserves.

Despite vowing to delay the bill’s passage, the lawmakers conceded their move was unlikely to be effective, saying Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing would likely put an end to their filibustering around May.

“It may not be effective but to not protest would be even more shameful,” Albert Chan said.

The radical lawmakers expected Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing to end their filibuster by May. Photo: Edward Wong

So far, none of the parties in the pan-democratic camp have indicated they would join in the filibustering, with that Democratic Party’s Sin Chung-kai stating that his party would not do so.

During the budget debate on Wednesday, lawmakers from across the political divide criticised the blueprint for failing to tackle pressing problems in the city.

Labour Party lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan slammed the budget for being the same as previous years, while calling the financial minister “stingy”.

Starry Lee Wai-king of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said the budget could have done more to resolve social tensions, but stated her party would still support it.

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