Opinion | Hong Kong lawmakers stood up for what’s right on elderly welfare. Shame it didn’t last

For a brief moment, a breath of fresh air blew through our Legislative Council. It behaved like a true legislature, with elected representatives of the people performing their role as a check and balance against unpopular government policies. But alas, the fresh air dissipated as quickly as it came, giving way to the stench of old. Legco is back to its familiar role as a hand-raising machine, a particularly jabbing label legislator Claudia Mo Man-ching once gave it.

Our legislature’s brief moment of united defiance came last week when government-friendly lawmakers voted with the opposition against the government’s raising of the elderly welfare age from 60 to 65. The vote was non-binding but so rattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor that she hurriedly summoned the loyalists to a powwow to offer a half-empty-glass compromise.

The government’s 11th-hour withdrawal of a motion to adjust tunnel tolls after it became clear the unpopular policy would also be voted down showed again Legco’s power if it stands united. But the loyalists too often dilute that power by taking on the role of government lackeys. They had even voted for the elderly welfare cut they later opposed.

There was a time when opposition lawmakers held sway in Legco. They squandered that with idiotic oath-taking which saw six in their camp disqualified. Now, the most electable in their camp can’t even qualify as candidates after giving the government an excuse to bar them for peacefully advocating independence as part of free speech.