In a Legco paper released on Wednesday, the Committee on Rules of Procedure called on members to give their views on three proposed procedures by next Wednesday.

The changes included a mechanism to apply a time limit to a particular debate. To protect minority members’ right to speak, the committee proposed any motion applying such a limit should require a high threshold, such as a two-thirds majority vote of the House Committee.

The committee also proposed giving the Legco president the power to select amendments for debate after considering factors such as whether they serve merely to “prolong the proceedings unnecessarily”.

Another proposal was allowing the president to rule out debating whole groups of amendments which he or she considers frivolous or meaningless, in one go.

Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai said his party would firmly oppose the three suggestions. He said the means of filibustering should be protected as long as the legislature is not fully returned by universal suffrage.

“A consensus would be easily reached if all members were directly elected,” he said.

“But it is utterly unconvincing to curb the minority members’ rights at this stage when the legislature is dominated by pro-establishment lawmakers who are not returned by direct elections.”

But Beijing-friendly lawmaker Wong Kwok-kin, of the Federation of Trade Unions, was in favour of the proposals as he said members should be banned from “abusing the rules with bad intention”.

Any change to the Legco rules would require majority support from both geographical and functional constituencies.

While the pro-establishment camp dominates the functional constituencies, the pan-democrats have one more seat than their opponents in the geographical constituencies.