No Article 23 legislation for the rest of my tenure, chief says
The chief executive has reached an understanding with Beijing not to reintroduce a bill to enact national security provisions under Article 23 of the Basic Law before he leaves office.
Donald Tsang Yam-kuen made the surprise announcement in his policy address. He said that, having repeatedly examined the issue, he felt it would be premature to force through legislation.
'I asked myself: with less than two years in office, do I have enough time to achieve a new consensus?' he said. 'Truly there remain suspicions and concerns since the exercise last time.' Tsang said he was aware of diverse opinions against the bill and that the majority view was that it should be deferred.
'Legislating [Article 23] is a constitutional obligation,' he said after delivering his address. But the people needed to understand the logic of the measure, something that could only be achieved when time was ripe.
He said legislating to enact Article 23 was not an issue he included in his platform when he ran for a second term in 2007 and that he preferred to focus on livelihood issues during the rest of his tenure.
Lawmaker Ip Kwok-him of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said: 'The existing criminal laws can be amended bit by bit to accommodate national security concerns before ultimately legislating for Article 23.' But the Civic Party warned that people must be vigilant because other government policies could still threaten civil liberties.
On the political structure, Tsang said the government would consider adjusting the rules for political appointees, such as by introducing a 'revolving door' to attract more talent to join the ruling team.
