Hong Kong’s number two official renews her call for legislature to pass controversial copyright bill
Carrie Lam urges pan-democrats to cease stalling tactics and begin considering backlog of bills that have yet to be introduced
The backlogs included a recent proposal to rename the Hong Kong Institute of Education as a university and another to add more lay members to the Medical Council to accelerate its handling of patients’ complaints against doctors, she said.
In reply to lawmakers’ criticism that she had exerted pressure on Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing to end debate over the contentious copyright bill, Lam stressed such was not her intention.
READ MORE: The copyright impasse: Hong Kong Legislative Council president says it is unreasonable to set a deadline for bill debate
“I never gave him pressure to open more meetings, extend the meeting time, set a deadline on the bill or cut the debate,” she said of her interaction with Tsang.
At the centre of the dispute was the copyright bill, supported by copyright owners but opposed by internet users and pan-democrats, who sought broader exemptions for fear it would be used to suppress online freedom.
Since December last year, pan-democrats, in the Legco minority, relied on different filibustering tactics to delay passage of the bill, such as making continuous calls for quorum.
As of Thursday, there were 20 bills waiting in the queue to be introduced in Legco, with fewer than 50 sitting days before the chamber’s summer recess.
Lam expected the government to submit three more bills for the legislature’s approval this year.
The impasse meant that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying was faced with the prospect of being saddled with considerable unfinished business by the end of his term next year in what was also the final year of Legco’s four-year term.
Lam made her second appeal to pan-democrats on Thursday in as many days, urging them to end the filibuster and grant smooth passage of the copyright bill.
READ MORE: Hong Kong copyright bill explained: Why are people so concerned about this?
The society said the bill now allowed Hong Kong to meet its international treaty obligations on copyright protection while introducing new exceptions.
“It is not in the interest of Hong Kong to delay passage of the bill,” the group said in its statement. “Our copyright law lags seriously behind international developments, especially in the area of digital protection.”
