Incoming chief executive Leung Chun-ying's government restructuring plan risks being abandoned before the current legislature's term ends on July 17, pushed aside by a backlog of outstanding business and delaying tactics by some lawmakers. This would mean the whole process would have to begin again in the new term starting in October. But a top Beijing official with responsibility for Hong Kong said 'the sky will not collapse' if this happened because Leung could still govern with his new ministers working within the structure set up by Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. Radical democrats have vowed to continue filibustering attempts in the coming weeks in the wake of a surprise defeat on Thursday of a motion to fast-track legislators' scrutiny of Leung's plan. 'I will not allow Leung's revamp proposal to be passed before July 17,' People Power lawmaker Wong Yuk-man - a key figure in an earlier filibuster on electoral changes - said yesterday, adding that he had prepared loads of speaking material for the upcoming debates. In Beijing, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Wang Guangya dismissed fears that Leung's administration could be thrown into confusion if his revamp plan was not passed before he takes the helm on July 1. Making the first comment by a top Beijing official on the issue, Wang said: 'The sky will not collapse. The government can still operate under the current structure devised by Tsang. On July 1, it is certain there will be a new line-up. And after July 1, when the proposal gets passed, the central government can make supplementary appointments [of new ministers] accordingly.' The Legco Secretariat said the earliest the plan could be dealt with was July 11 because of 10 outstanding bills on the table. It estimated the debate and voting on the revamp resolution would require 30 hours. Bills yet to be dealt with include the law regulating the sale of new flats, the companies bill and the trade description bill - which the secretariat estimates will require more than 90 hours of debate. But lawmakers conceded the actual debate time could be much longer given People Power's pledge to filibuster Leung's plan. Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, director of Leung's office, declined to estimate when the proposal - which would appoint deputies for the chief secretary and financial secretary and increase the number of bureaus from 12 to 14 - would be approved. Democratic Party lawmaker Cheung Man-kwong urged Leung to propose an alternative if his revamp plan was not passed next month. But Law said: 'We don't have plan C.' The plan has also struck rough water in the Finance Committee, which yesterday resumed the scrutiny of the HK$62 million-a-year financial arrangements. On Tuesday, the administration tabled an amendment to revise the effective date of the revamp to five days after the proposal is approved by the committee. But pan-democrats, doubting the legality of the move, called for a written explanation before continuing the debate in the committee. The debate in the Finance Committee will continue next Friday.
