A MARATHON SESSION will begin at 9.30am today to conclude the term of the SAR's first legislature. It is expected to last well into Thursday. If they speed through their work fast enough, members can take a good rest on Friday before the 7pm farewell dinner hosted by the lawmaking body's president, Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai.
Guests on the list include Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-sang, and other bureau chiefs - if the lawmakers are still talking to them.
At midnight after the banquet, the council will be dissolved for the next elections and a new council.
During the scheduled four-day meeting, hearings will be adjourned well before midnight, so there will be no excuse for sleepy eyes and wrong votes. Twenty-one bills, including the Building Management (Amendment) Bill suspended in last week's session, will be tabled for final scrutiny.
Lawmakers will also discuss a resolution to set the duty on the environmentally friendly ultra-low sulphur diesel at $1.11 per litre before the end of this year, at $2 for next year and finally at $2.89 for 2002.
Three motions will be debated, including the no-confidence motion in the chairman of the Housing Authority, Rosanna Wong Yick-ming, and Director of Housing Tony Miller, to hold them responsible for the piling scam, even though Ms Wong resigned on Saturday.
