Legco budget debate collapses for third time in three weeks
Meeting’s adjournment may contribute to backlog of important bills that need to be passed within next two months
The Legislative Council budget debate ground to a halt for the third time in as many weeks as too few lawmakers were present in the chamber on Friday, threatening not just to delay approval for public spending but also to add to the backlog of bills to be passed.
The meeting was scheduled to start at 9am, but People Power lawmaker Raymond Chan Chi-chuen called for a quorum in an attempt to filibuster the government blueprint, which his party claimed neglected the needs of the city’s poor.
The meeting was adjourned at about 9.15am as only 29 lawmakers, including five pan-democrats, were in attendance – six short of the 35 required.
But Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing maintained that the adjournment would not stop lawmakers from voting on the budget by next Friday, unless next week’s meeting also came to a halt.
Compared to the budget bill, it was understood that the government and the pro-establishment camp were more concerned about a backlog of other important bills that would lapse unless lawmakers voted on them before the summer break in two months.