Legislators last night voted down the traditional Motion of Thanks for the Chief Executive's Policy Address, for only the second time. Tung Chee-hwa suffered the same snub given by the pre-handover Legislative Council to former Governor Chris Patten in 1996. Also defeated last night were three amendments moved by pro-democracy legislators calling on members to regret and express dissatisfaction with the speech. The motion of gratitude moved by Dr Leong Che-hung, in his capacity as House Committee chairman, was passed by 23 to five by functional constituency members, and by 15 to 14 by the geographical constituency and Election Committee members - one short of the 16 needed. The vote therefore failed because, under the Basic Law, a motion has to receive majority support from both groups. The Democrats, The Frontier and some independents voted against. Mr Tung said the Policy Address should not be 'politicised' and described the vote as an internal matter of Legco. 'We will do our best to ensure the measures in the Policy Address are being implemented,' he said. Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-sang said she was very disappointed, but that would not alter the policy direction or programme. She dismissed fears executive-legislature relations would be hurt and said the defeat was not a vote of no-confidence. 'No. I don't think so. This is a motion of thanks,' she said. Dr Leong admitted the vote might harm public confidence in the Government because legislators 'had declined even to say 'thank you'.' Democratic Party chairman Martin Lee Chu-ming said: 'Maybe one or two members supported the policy speech in its entirety. The great majority of members had reservations. It's a fair result.' Summing up after 12 policy secretaries spoke in defence of the address, Mrs Chan said legislators should recognise Mr Tung had given a realistic assessment of the SAR's economic problems. The Chief Executive had fulfilled his obligations to set out the Government's work and its policy objectives. There could be no quick fixes for the economic woes. 'Just as last year's policy address set a visionary and positive tone for our future in the wake of an extremely successful transition, this year's address was soberly precise in its analysis of the current situation, pragmatic in its approach to tackling our problems, yet forward-looking and responsible in taking some of the concrete steps we need to find a new niche for ourselves in an ever-changing global economy,' she said. 'There were no surprises, no gimmicks, no political sleight of hand. The community would have quite rightly censured us had there been any attempt to pull mythical rabbits out of the hat. I think the community is well aware that there is no simple solution to our current woes.' Mrs Chan pledged to build up constructive dialogue with the legislature, but said a ministerial system was not a panacea.
