Legco chief plans moves to cut short budget filibuster effort

Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing is set to announce fresh moves today to curb a marathon filibuster on the government budget that threatens to cut off the administration's cash supply.

Tsang said one possible solution was to set a maximum time for debates as radical pan-democrats seek to stretch out the discussion of more than 1,000 amendments to the budget bill as they demand a universal pension and cash handouts for the public.

Tsang's comments came after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying condemned the filibuster and called on the public to do the same. The delaying tactic is being used in the budget debate for the second year in a row.

The debate has taken up more than 60 hours of Legco's time since April 30. On Sunday, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah put the length of the total debate so far at 82 hours and called for an end to the "farce".

The government has repeatedly warned that its funding will run out if the budget is not passed this month.

Speaking yesterday, Jasper Tsang said he had been working with Legco's secretariat to explore ways to make the debate more efficient. That could include extending meetings, calling more Legco sessions or capping the time for discussions.

Tsang split the amendments into five sections, and Legco will resume the debate on the third today. Tsang said debate on each section could be limited to 10 hours. Democratic Party lawmaker Sin Chung-kai called the time cap "a feasible option".