Listen to all lawmakers regardless of political leanings, Liberal Party's new leaders tell Leung

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and his cabinet must engage lawmakers more, regardless of their political leanings, as this is for the good of the city, the two new leaders of the pro-establishment Liberal Party have said. Legislators Felix Chung Kwok-pan and Vincent Fang Kang made the call after they were elected uncontested on December 1 as the Liberal Party's new chairman and leader, respectively - succeeding Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee and James Tien Pei-chun. Tien's office was made available upon his resignation in October. He had been struck off the membership list of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the nation's top advisory body, for asking Leung to consider quitting to solve the political impasse triggered by Occupy Central. In an apparent rapprochement, Chung and Fang told Leung they would "toe the line on big issues" at a lunch the chief executive hosted on Tuesday that Tien also attended. However, Chung said their words did not mean the Liberals endorsed the way Leung was governing Hong Kong. Leung recently met pro-establishment parties one by one to consult them on his policy address next month. However, he did not meet any pan-democratic groups after they rejected his invitation early last month to discuss ideas for the address. He had wanted separate meetings with the various parties, but pan-democrat lawmakers were seeking a single session with the entire camp. Chung told the South China Morning Post: "My simplest suggestion is [he should] relaunch dialogue with all political parties … and improve relationships." Beijing loyalists used to hold a dinner gathering with Leung every two months, he noted, but only 15 out of the camp's 43 lawmakers attended the last session, in February. The June and September events were cancelled because of Legislative Council matters and Occupy protests. "[The low turnouts] showed the lawmakers were not interested, as what we had raised before was not heeded," Chung said. Fang echoed Chung's views in a separate interview, but added that ministers and civil servants also had a responsibility to talk to lawmakers. "We communicate a lot with some undersecretaries and [senior civil servants]," Fang said. "With more engagement, there would be less misunderstanding and officials would understand our rationale if we oppose [certain measures] … It will be good for Legco, for governance and the people." Fang also spoke on the recent row that led to a defiant Tien giving up his party leadership while insisting on his call for Leung to consider quitting so as to encourage political reconciliation. He also discussed Tien's lobbying of his Beijing-loyalist allies to sign a petition with pan-democrats urging a free-television licence for Hong Kong Television Network in October. Tien's outspokenness and lack of communication had led to "misunderstanding" among officials and residents that the Liberals were an opposition party, Fang said. "Sometimes when Tien raised a point or a question, people might think he was teasing the government, but it was not what he meant." Fang, as the Liberals' new leader, hoped his pro-establishment party would be a middleman between the two camps. On December 5, Legco's Finance Committee passed a plan to expand the Tseung Kwan O landfill after committee chairman Tommy Cheung Yu-yan, a Liberal, reached an agreement with pan-democrats on curbing their filibuster, which was delaying the proposal. Earlier that day, Chung and Tien visited a group of teenage Scholarism hunger strikers at Occupy's Admiralty site and offered to set up a meeting with Leung. Chung said that while the Liberals remained opposed to Occupy, it might have changed the city's politics in a way that favoured his party's chances in the district council elections next year and the Legco ballot in 2016. Tien, who represents the New Territories East geographical constituency, is the Liberals' only directly elected lawmaker. "In the past, there were only two extremes: pro-establishment and pan-democratic. Now there are really some people standing in the middle … who may not be supporting [either camp] because they see a very divided society," Chung said. "They are now aware, 'Why do things have to be in either black or white?'" Chung was understood to be referring to alleged triad attacks on activists and accusations that students were "colluding with external forces" as examples of unnecessary extremes.

Listen to all lawmakers regardless of political leanings, Liberal Party's new leaders tell Leung

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Party's new leaders tell Leung to reach out regardless of political leanings

Party's new leaders tell Leung to reach out regardless of political leanings