Government allies say they will not support such an inquiry The Legislative Council is unlikely to hold an inquiry into allegations of government interference at the Hong Kong Institute of Education because of a lack of support from legislators. The Legco education panel will meet as scheduled tomorrow to discuss the proposal but it will probably go no further because government allies in the legislature have said they will not support it. Their stance is seen as a political trade-off after the government announced a commission of inquiry, headed by Mr Justice Woo Kwok-hing, to look into the allegations. Democratic Party legislator Cheung Man-kwong said there were precedents for separate inquiries into one issue, but admitted there were not enough votes for a Legco probe. He cited the chaos surrounding the opening of Chek Lap Kok airport, the Harbour Fest saga, and the public housing short-piling scandal as examples of the government and Legco holding separate inquiries A source familiar with the case said it was a trade-off between the government and friendly political parties. In return for the establishment of the commission of inquiry, the Liberal Party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong and The Alliance would vote down the proposal for a Legco select committee inquiry, the source said. Executive councillors and legislators Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee of the Liberal Party and Tsang Yok-sing of the DAB both said they favoured leaving it up to Mr Justice Woo's commission. 'It is because the issue might somehow be related with the chief executive election ... there is no need to duplicate the job,' Mrs Chow said. Eddie Ng Hak-kim, vice-chairman of the institute's council, yesterday said he would meet president Paul Morris and council chairman Thomas Leung Kwok-fai next week to discuss potential legal issues involving the institute. He was speaking after Bernard Luk Hung-kay, the institute's academic vice-president, yesterday backed up his earlier claims that Mr Ng had intended to make changes to the minutes of the staffing committee meeting last November. Mr Ng is chairman of the committee. Professor Luk presented a copy of a section of the draft minutes with an amendment clearly made to them. The minutes were approved by the committee yesterday. Professor Luk said Mr Ng added an assertion that college management was responsible only for nominating staff for permanent terms of employment, while the staffing committee had the last say. Professor Luk said while the committee chairman could make changes to the draft minutes before submitting them to members for approval, it was 'shocking' to find he had added things not discussed in the November meeting. Mr Ng said he made changes to the draft according to his notes of the November meeting before submitting it to committee members.
