Shift in focus to livelihood issues urged
Lau Ping-cheung hopes Legco will concentrate on economic and livelihood issues rather than political argument.
Mr Lau, who won in the architectural, surveying and planning functional constituency, ending the political career of veteran Edward Ho Sing-tin, denied he was a staunch supporter of the Government and Tung Chee-hwa, although he is on good terms with Exco convenor Leung Chun-ying, a surveyor.
He said: 'It depends on the issue. I think the Government deserves applause if it has done well. However, if its performance were bad, I would not support it. It was not entirely the fault of Mr Tung for the economy to suffer a downturn after the handover. However, he still has some responsibility.'
Mr Lau said the Government should not be criticised blindly. He suggested that society had become too politicised and that other issues deserved attention.
One example was the Robert Chung Ting-yiu saga. He believed a hearing into the controversy by Legco would add nothing significant to the one held by an independent panel appointed by the University of Hong Kong. He said: 'Think of the time and the opportunity cost. You have to pay for the lawmakers and the staff. The site of the Legco building bears a land premium. All this is taxpayers' money. We have to use it in a cost-effective way. The resources should concentrate on improving the economy and people's livelihoods.'
The independent inquiry, which ended last month, found that university chiefs had tried to stop Dr Chung, a university pollster, carrying out opinion surveys on Mr Tung and his Government. Vice-chancellor Professor Cheng Yiu-chung and pro-vice-chancellor Wong Siu-lun resigned as a result of the criticism they received in the report.
Mr Lau said certain conditions had to be achieved before introducing full universal suffrage for the election of Legco and the Chief Executive. 'If the election results show a balanced composition of sectors, it will reflect that the voters are mature,' he said. The geographical constituency seats were dominated by lawmakers that represent the interest of the grassroots, he added.
If all 60 seats were returned through direct election, they would be dominated by a single group. 'No matter whether it was the democrats, business groups or the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, it would not be healthy for seats to be dominated by a single group.
'If more middle class people stood for election in the geographical constituency, it could help test whether the voters are mature,' he said.
Mr Lau revealed one or two political parties had invited him to join but said he would rather remain non-affiliated.
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