“Lawmakers can give their views on the two bills in Legco meetings, but should not obstruct the usual [process],” she said.

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Since October, the House Committee – which scrutinises bills and decides when they can go to a final vote – has failed to elect a chair. Dennis Kwok, previously its deputy chairman, has presided over the meetings, as incumbent Lee seeks re-election.

Kwok has been criticised by Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, and the pro-establishment camp, for allowing his allies to filibuster.

Lee said on Monday that the committee would hold an extra meeting four days later, in a bid to clear a backlog of bills that have built up during the saga. That came after Leung said outside legal advice suggested that, given the urgency of the situation, Lee could use her position to take control of the panel from Kwok.

Speaking before her weekly meeting with the Executive Council, Lam said her administration had always believed Lee had the power to break the deadlock, as at least 14 bills were being held up.

She noted that seven bills had completed their respective committee stages, and lawmakers had already submitted reports about the national anthem bill and patents amendment bill.

The administration wanted Legco’s full council to resume the second reading of the two bills after passing the government’s latest budget, she added. A vote on the budget is expected to take place on May 14.

“We are only missing the final stroke, which is for the government to negotiate with the House Committee chairman on when to resume the second reading [of the bills],” Lam said.

“Based on that analysis, of course we hope these two bills will be the first ones the House Committee discusses.”

Under the proposed national anthem law, anyone who misuses March of the Volunteers for commercial advantage, or publicly and intentionally insults the anthem, could face a fine of up to HK$50,000 (US$6,380) and three years in prison.

Lam on Tuesday noted that opposition lawmakers had said they were stalling the House Committee specifically to stop the national anthem bill from passing.

All legislation that fails to pass before the current legislative session ends in July will lapse.

Meanwhile, Legco pan-democrats have started a crowdfunding campaign for further legal advice from two senior lawyers, one of whom was Bar Association chairman Philip Dykes.

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The Civic Party’s Tanya Chan said 22 lawmakers would pay HK$110,000 and try to get HK$264,000 from public donors for the advice, which she hoped would arrive before Friday.

“We cannot tell if the legal advice will differ from [that offered by Leung],” Chan said, though she added that the camp had doubts over the counsel made public by the president.

Chan also questioned how Lam could have seen the legal advice Leung shared with lawmakers in a confidential document on Monday, and added that resuming work on the anthem bill would only exacerbate existing political conflicts in the city.

Meanwhile, pro-establishment lawmakers have submitted a motion to censure Kwok over the filibustering.

Such a motion was likely to fail, however, as it requires more than two-thirds of lawmakers present at the vote to pass.

Legco has 23 pro-democracy legislators and 43 pro-government members.