LEGISLATIVE Councillors are to put the accountability of unofficial members of the Executive Council to the test. They have decided to ask the top advisers to hold joint meetings with them in open session every month to explain Exco decisions. At yesterday's House Committee meeting, legislators agreed to revive Legco-Exco monthly meetings as a means to bridge the communication gap between the two councils. They asked Exco members to answer questions about government policies and to seek legislators' views before making decisions. Governor Chris Patten holds monthly open sessions with legislators as part of administration efforts to demonstrate accountability. The latest idea, originally mooted by the Legislative Council sub-committee on procedural matters as an option to improve communication, was strongly supported by United Democrat Yeung Sum when the House Committee discussed the sub-committee's report yesterday. After about 30 minutes of discussion, the proposal was supported by most of the attending members. It is expected to be formally put to Exco soon. Government House spokesman Mike Hanson said the Government would discuss the matter before commenting. Exco members could not be reached for comment last night. Despite general support for the idea, legislators were divided on whether the meetings should be open or closed. Mr Yeung said open meetings would make Exco more accountable to the public. Councillors would have to explain and justify their decisions on important issues and would be subject to challenge by legislators. But he agreed that closed meetings would be necessary when dealing with sensitive matters. Liberal Party legislator Howard Young said it would be difficult to achieve worthwhile discussions in open meetings because Exco members tended to speak cautiously in public. But independent Marvin Cheung Kin-tung said the chances of Executive Councillors revealing anything were ''zero'' regardless of whether the meetings were open or closed. Meeting Point legislator Fred Li Wah-ming said a public meeting with Exco members would only give legislators an opportunity to do ''shows''. He thought the current arrangement, whereby Exco members invited party representatives for private conversations, was a more effective way to improve communication. During yesterday's meeting, Mr Patten's proposal to set up a 10-member Government-Legco Committee was again rejected by legislators on the grounds the interests of independent members might not be properly represented. The relationship between Exco and Legco has been seen by legislators as worsening after the separation of the two councils by the Governor last year.
