Editorial | Cool heads needed as clashing lawmakers bring shame to city
- Scuffles over the fugitive amendment bill have sent the wrong message out to the world, and legislators should be able to exercise restraint and come to an agreement though rational behaviour
From clashes over the fugitive amendment bill to chaos during the chief executive’s question time, the escalating tension in the Legislative Council is getting out of hand. The mayhem has not only undermined the image of the legislature, but also political stability and effective governance. Cool heads must prevail before the situation deteriorates further.
This is not the first time rowdy behaviour has erupted inside the chamber, but the scuffles – the ugliest in Legco’s history – involving dozens of lawmakers from rival camps are to be condemned.
The chaos came when both sides sought to seize control over the scrutiny of the bill, which allows a case-by-case transfer of fugitives to places with which the city has no extradition agreements, including the mainland, Taiwan and Macau. One lawmaker was taken to hospital, while three others claimed to have been injured.
With no agreement reached in extradition talks with the mainland over the past two decades, the government has made use of a suspected murder case in Taiwan to introduce a case-by-case transfer approach to plug what it describes as a loophole in criminal justice.
But there are fears that it will enable Beijing to arbitrarily arrest people and undermine the safeguards under Hong Kong’s governing principle of “one country, two systems”.
The proposals are no doubt controversial, but there is no excuse for violence. Saturday’s chaos gives the world the wrong message that our politicians are incapable of resolving disputes in a rational and civilised manner.
