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NEW Regional Council chairman Daniel Lam Wai-keung was interviewed by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) over allegations of vote-buying.

  Mr Lam, who was elected chairman last week, said yesterday it was time to clear the air about the affair so that he could concentrate on his new job.

  'The law is fair. If I did [buy votes], then I should have been charged,' he said.

  'The whole thing is over. Now I just want to do well as Regional Council chairman.'   Two ICAC officers interviewed Mr Lam under caution on December 13, 1991, and warned that he was alleged to have breached Prevention of Corruption Ordnance No 4.

  The officers told him they had information that he bribed former colleague Carlos Cheung Hon-kau for votes during his campaign for a functional constituency seat in the 1991 Legislative Council elections.

  He denied the allegations.

  Mr Lam stood for the same seat as Gilbert Leung Kam-ho, who was released last month after serving a 21-month jail term for electoral fraud.

  His questioning was part of a wide-ranging ICAC probe in which several regional councillors were interviewed. No charges were brought and the investigation was believed to have ended in late 1991.

  The ICAC yesterday refused to comment on the case.

  'I was questioned about a meeting in mid-August 1991 when I sought Mr Cheung's support in the election for the functional constituency representing the Regional Council,' Mr Lam said.

  'They asked whether I produced $30,000 cash from my pocket and offered it in exchange for his vote and also his help in influencing other regional councillors.

  'I replied that I had taken something out of my pocket but that it was not money. I remembered that it was my pager. I was holding my mobile phone at the time and waiting for a call. I was in a hurry and just talked with him for a short time before going.'   Mr Cheung told the Sunday Morning Post that Mr Lam had produced a 'pack of something' during their meeting in a Jordan restaurant, about 10 days before the election.

  'I talked to [Mr Lam] about the election and then he pulled something else from his pocket,' he said.

  'I was furious and immediately stopped him. I was very unhappy at that time and he left shortly afterwards.

  'It is possible it was money. I am not sure. I may have overreacted.'   Mr Cheung, who is chairman of the Country Parks Board, was interviewed by ICAC officers while on holiday in the United States shortly after Leung's arrest on December 5, 1991.

  Mr Lam, who is also vice-chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk, said the ICAC asked if he had offered money to three other politicians and whether he had told some regional councillors to mark their ballot papers so he could check who had voted for him.

  'I denied that accusation. [The ICAC] can check the votes and see there are no special marks there,' he said.

  'They also asked me whether I had heard anything about election bribery. I replied that I hadn't, but I was surprised that I lost the election since I had the support of New Territories leaders Lau Wong-fat and Cheung Yan-lung.'   Mr Lam, who is also Island District Board chairman, believes the allegations may have been part of a plot to discredit him.

  'Someone wanted to frame me at that time. Someone wanted to tarnish my reputation,' he said.

  Nevertheless, the experience has not put him off politics and he is considering standing in September's Legislative Council polls through the new Election Committee.

  Mr Lam was elected Regional Council chairman with the support of the Democratic Party. He got 21 votes out of the 39 cast, and beat two rivals, Heung Yee-kuk vice-chairman Liu Ching-leung and Leung Kwong-cheong, deputy chairman of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood.

  Mr Lam was first elected to the Legislative Council in 1988, but was defeated when he stood for re-election in 1991, receiving only 10 votes to Leung's 20.

  The other candidates in that contest were Chow Yick-hay and Chow Chun-wing.



Regco leader clears air over votes claim