Jasper Tsang digs in against critics who want him to step down as president of Hong Kong's legislature
Veteran Beijing loyalist says he'll only step down as Legco president if most lawmakers agree to oust him, as no-confidence vote looms
Embattled Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing looks set to hold on to his position, insisting he will not step down unless "most lawmakers" vote to impeach him over a perceived breach of his neutrality.
Tsang dug his heels in yesterday amid support from his predecessor, Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, as a vote of no confidence seemed inevitable over his active advice to fellow Beijing loyalists via WhatsApp during Legco's political reform vote on June 18.
But an impeachment appears unlikely because the vote, to be launched by two People Power lawmakers, requires support from half of all 35 lawmakers from functional constituencies - mostly Tsang's Beijing-loyalist allies.
Meanwhile, a rift within the camp continued, with the Liberal Party's honorary chairman, James Tien Pei-chun, saying the "pig" and "stupid people" he had mocked on Facebook referred to Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung and Ip Kwok-him, the duo who initiated a disastrous walkout in the legislature that resulted in only eight votes supporting the government's reform proposal.
It may never be known who orchestrated the WhatsApp leaks that got Tsang into trouble. Fan, now a member of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, said such people "have always existed, even in the Executive Council during the British colonial era".
She said whistle-blowers were "completely devoid of political morals".