The rhetoric begins ahead of Legco return as Hong Kong lawmakers prepare to battle for role vacated by Ronny Tong
Ahead of opening of new legislative session, war of words surrounding deputy chairman position escalates
Pro-establishment legislators have stepped up rhetoric over the vacant role of deputy chairman of the Legislative Council house committee ahead of the opening of the new legislative session next Wednesday.
The post is up for grabs following the resignation of former Civic Party legislator Ronny Tong Ka-wah in June.
The pan-democrats will today discuss their candidate for the post, which includes responsibilities such as meeting with Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on a regular basis.
But the pro-establishment camp, which has the majority in the legislature, has vowed to squeeze their rivals out of the key posts in panels and other committees as revenge for a surprise "ambush" to grab control of the public works and establishment subcommittees of the influential Legco finance committee.
The ambush, part of the pan-democrats' "non-cooperation" campaign, has forced government funding requests to face more obstacles and greater scrutiny.
The hostilities between both camps have also seen an unofficial long-standing agreement, that the deputy chairman position in a Legco panel will be held by someone from the rival camp to the chairman, broken.
By the 2014-15 legislative session, the pro-establishment camp had grabbed the chairmanship of 16 of the 18 panels, with only three deputy chairmanships still in the hands of pan-democrats.