Hong Kong legislature forced to push back copyright bill debate over lack of lawmakers
An insufficient number of lawmakers and multiple calls for a head count kick controversy to session next week in victory for bill’s opponents
Pan-democrats managed to delay scrutiny of the controversial Copyright Amendment Bill for another week yesterday when the Legislative Council meeting was adjourned because too few lawmakers were in attendance.
Only 29 legislators - below the requisite 35 - were present in the chamber in the 15-minutes' grace time after the Civic Party's Dr Kenneth Chan Ka-lok called for a quorum count.
The session was then adjourned at 1.15pm, well before the second reading of the bill was due to be resumed.
Pan-democrats, who called a quorum count four times before succeeding, said it was part of their strategy to buy time to block the bill. They urged the government to make good use of the extra time to allow concessions to the bill or stall it for further consultation.
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Greg So Kam-leung held firm in his opposition to the pan-democrats' bid.
"This final product that we have on the table is actually a balancing act," So said. "Let's take stock of what we have, this gain, this balance."
People Power lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip said he hoped that filibustering over the bill would drag on to February.
The pro-establishment camp was angered by the adjournment, which they said was a waste of Legco resources and the man hours of officials.
READ MORE: Hong Kong government moves to allay fears over controversial copyright bill ahead of vote
Thousands of protesters had been expected to show up outside the Legco complex last night to voice their opposition to the bill, referred to by some as the "Article 23 of the cyberworld" - a reference to the section of the Basic Law calling for national security legislation which many fear would curb their freedoms and rights.
The rally was postponed following the drama, but police were investigating a blast involving a butane gas canister in a rubbish bin at the Legco demonstration zone last night.
The government argues the law has not been updated since 2006 and that film, TV and music industries have lost billions to piracy. It has dismissed fears that adaptations of videos, songs or pictures will be a crime.
Earlier in the day, three quorum bells had already been called over a two-hour period by three lawmakers who had vowed to stage a filibuster against the bill: The NeoDemocrats' Gary Fan Kwok-wai, League of Social Democrats' "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, and People Power's Raymond Chan Chi-chuen. This had effectively delayed the start of debate.
Some 21 pro-establishment lawmakers were absent, including the bill's committee chairman, Chan Kam-lam of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.
Ip Kwok-him, another absent DAB lawmaker, said there was no strong motivation for pro-government lawmakers to be present. Ip would usually arrange "rosters" for allies at Legco meetings in the event of important legislation, but not yesterday.
"If the pan-democrats must cut short the meeting, we would let them do so," he said
His party colleague, Ann Chiang Lai-wan, said the stance of the Democratic Party and the Civic Party, which had both remained lukewarm to calls by internet users to join in the filibustering, had lowered the pro-Beijing camp's guard.
Wong Kwok-kin, a lawmaker from the pro-Beijing Federation of Trade Unions, believed pan-democrats were under pressure from foreign business chambers to pass the bill but were opposing it under the assumption it would eventually be passed.
"The majority of pro-establishment lawmakers should refrain from voting when the bill is put to vote so as to force pan-democrats to oppose it. I may discuss the idea with my FTU colleagues later," he said.
