Time spent on Legco filibustering doubles this year
The number of meeting adjournments due to a lack of quorum also increased fivefold, as House Committee chairman Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen came under fire on Friday after he said relations between the legislature and the administration had improved
The hours spent on quorum calls has doubled this legislative year, compared with the previous year, while the number of Legco meeting adjournments due to a lack of quorum increased fivefold.
The figures were released as House Committee chairman Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen came under fire on Friday after he said relations between the legislature and the administration had improved, with lawmakers from both sides of the political divide saying the situation had never been worse.
So far, lawmakers have spent around 108 hours on quorum counts, a tactic frequently employed to filibuster controversial government proposals, during the 2015-16 legislative year.
The figure stood at around 56 hours in the previous year.
As of the end of June, council meetings ended prematurely 11 times as not enough lawmakers were present, whereas this only happened twice the previous year.
Despite the trend, Leung said ties between the legislature and the administration had improved this year compared with the last three years.