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Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Hong KongPolitics

Hong Kong opposition filibuster blocks Lam’s plan for Legco to prioritise joint checkpoint debate

Bloc makes 15 quorum calls during nine-hour meeting, halting proceedings for a total of 2.5 hours

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Pro-democracy lawmaker James To Kun-sun alone in the Legco chamber on Wednesday. Photo: Sam Tsang
Jeffie LamandSu Xinqi
The Hong Kong leader’s Herculean mission of improving ties between the government and lawmakers got off to a rocky start on Wednesday, as opposition members filibustered on the first day of the new Legislative Council session.

The pro-democracy camp proposed 34 amendments to Legco’s rules of procedure, which they said would boost the parliament’s transparency and efficiency, and bring it “firmly into the 21st century”.

The bloc’s united action was seen as an attempt to stymie their opponents’ plans to tighten the Legco rule book, to effectively curb such filibustering and make it harder for the legislature to investigate city officials.

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The Beijing-friendly camp has a window of opportunity to push through procedural changes, while their opponents’ numbers are weakened. The pan-democrats have this year lost six members, whom a court removed from their seats for badly taken oaths.
That window of opportunity could close in March next year, when there will be by-elections to fill four of the empty seats. The other two will be voted on later.
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Asked if Wednesday’s deluge of amendments was intended to block their rivals’ attempts to tighten the rules, Civic Party lawmaker Dennis Kwok did not deny it, but said: “Different people will have different interpretations about what we are trying to do.

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