Stay in your seats: Hong Kong Legco president squashes plan to change quorum rules to beat filibusters
Finance Committee chairman Chan Kin-por suggested that quorum should include members standing in area just outside main chamber
The Legislative Council president has ruled against the latest desperate measure floated by Beijing loyalists to combat the marathon pan-democrat filibuster against the controversial copyright amendment bill.
Jasper Tsang Yok-sing said on Thursday that lawmakers had to return to their seats once they entered the chamber, although they would still be counted as present if they were standing in the rectangular area between the hall’s inner and outer doors.
READ MORE: Tick tock goes the clock: Filibustering creates logjam for Hong Kong legislation
The controversy emerged after insurance sector lawmaker Chan Kin-por suggested turning the area between the two doors into an “anti-filibuster working zone”, which would allow lawmakers to take phone calls without worrying that their absence would lead to a meeting being adjourned following a quorum call – a tactic adopted by lawmakers to drag out debate on unpopular bills.
“We would not disturb other lawmakers [by taking calls here], but at the same time we could achieve the goal of having a quorum,” Chan said.
The suggestion followed a contentious ruling by acting president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen on Wednesday, when he counted Chan and Abraham Razack, who were talking on the phone in the zone, as present when radical lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung made a quorum call.
Tsang was forced to clarify the matter yesterday after pan-democrats lambasted Chan’s idea as “a huge insult” to the legislature.
While reiterating the zone in question was always considered part of the chamber, Tsang ruled out Chan’s idea.
“After entering the chamber, any member should proceed directly to his or her seat and should not stay in any part of the chamber away from their seats,” he said.
It was not the first time that the pro-establishment camp had floated what some regarded as surprising ideas to guard against the pan-democrat filibuster on the copyright amendment bill, which has been under scrutiny since early December.
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Chan, Legco’s finance committee chairman who recently courted controversy for his “unfair” handling of a meeting, had already suggested arranging ambulances to stand by to prevent lawmakers from dragging out meetings by lying on the chamber floor.
People Power lawmaker Raymond Chan Chi-chuen was admitted to hospital during a Finance Committee meeting last Friday after he was stopped by security guards amid protests against Chan Kin-por’s decision to cut short the debate on extra funding for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge.
Engineering sector lawmaker Lo Wai-kwok also raised eyebrows last week by asking Tsang to consider counting the souls of pan-democrats absent from the chamber in determining the quorum.
Liberal Party leader Felix Chung Kwok-pan admitted the camp had been under constant pressure over the past few weeks, which had prompted some of his allies to float “interesting” ideas to combat the filibuster.
But Labour Party stalwart Lee Cheuk-yan said that was not a legitimate reason to “extend the area of the chamber”.
“If lawmakers could make calls in that area but still be counted as present, why would the president be intolerant of members who shout from their seats?” he said.
