Don’t hold up extradition bill any longer, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and former Legco president Jasper Tsang urge opposition lawmakers

Lawmakers set to resume voting process on April 30 to pick chairman of committee that will vet controversial bill

Democrats filibustered at the first committee meeting and were expected to continue to do so

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Carrie Lam said picking a chairman was a simple matter – but it could not be done. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 5:35pm, 20 Apr 2019Updated: 12:35am, 21 Apr 2019

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and the former president of the city’s legislature have both urged opposition lawmakers not to hold up a controversial extradition bill by blocking the election of a chairman of a committee that will scrutinise the proposal.

Lam and Jasper Tsang Yok-sing issued warnings as lawmakers were set to resume the voting process on April 30, before the Bills Committee could formally vet the government’s proposal to allow the transfer of fugitives to any place currently without a rendition arrangement, including mainland China, Taiwan and Macau.

Democrats filibustered at the first committee meeting last Wednesday and were expected to continue to do so. In response, pro-government lawmakers were mulling the removal of opposition lawmaker James To Kun-sun as presiding chairman and even threatened to bypass the entire scrutiny process if the election dragged on too long.

Lam on Saturday expressed disappointment at the Legislative Council for the unprecedented move to hold up the election of a committee chairman.

Jasper Tsang said there was a grey area over a lawmaker’s power to chair a meeting. Photo: Edmond So

“It was such a simple matter, but still it could not be completed within a two-hour meeting – that’s unheard of and we are very disappointed,” Lam said.