Pan-democrats win one more Legco panel chair, bringing total to six out of 18
Remaining positions filled without drama, in sharp contrast to chaotic election earlier this month
The non-establishment camp ended up with one third of the Legislative Council’s 18 panel chairmanships after securing one more of the posts on an unusually peaceful Friday morning, two days after the bloc’s protests caused the legislature’s weekly meeting to be adjourned.
However, in a separate election on Friday afternoon, the camp did not manage to get any of the three lawmakers’ seats on the Chinese University’s governing council, with its rivals denying their dominance was intended to block attempts to democratise the university governing structure.
The scramble for the various seats at Legco yesterday started with the election of the chiefs for the remaining five of the 18 panels, which are responsible for debating policy issues and government proposals, and their chairmen are empowered to set the agenda.
Only 13 of the panels had their chairmen and deputies elected on Friday last week after the pro-government and non-establishment camps engaged in bitter disputes, mainly over the Legco president’s handling of two localist lawmakers’ use of insulting language during their oath-taking a week before.
Five pan-democrats were elected panel chairmen last week, and the camp’s victory yesterday brings the total to six, four more than In the 2015-16 year. Their rivals chair 12 other panels, after bagging the chairmanship of the remaining four yesterday.
Asked why Friday’s five panel chairmanship polls took place in an unusually peaceful manner, Civic Party’s Dr Kwok Ka-ki told the Post: “We have done everything we could ... I have decided to do my best and show people that the legislature still has a role and still has some quality.”