Hong Kong lawmakers to be suspended for ‘grossly disorderly conduct’ under approved changes to Legislative Council rule book

Legislators pass 37 changes to Legco’s rule book, targeting filibustering and other tactics previously deployed in the chamber by opposition bloc

Approved amendments include a provision for suspending ‘misbehaving’ legislators, as well as tougher time limits for debating bills and lawmaker speeches

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Members of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council face suspension for engaging in ‘grossly disorderly conduct’. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 5:33pm, 25 Mar 2021Updated: 8:27pm, 25 Mar 2021

Hong Kong lawmakers will be suspended for at least a week if their behaviour is deemed “grossly disorderly conduct” under sweeping amendments to the Legislative Council rule book passed on Thursday by the chamber’s overwhelming pro-establishment majority.

The legislature’s near-unanimous endorsement of 37 changes to its rules of procedure – aimed at further curbing filibustering and other political tactics – followed just four hours of debate, with hardly any opposition lawmakers left in the council to make their case.

Among the approved amendments – voted through by 38 to 1 – was a provision for suspending “misbehaving” legislators, as well as tougher time limits for debating bills and lawmaker speeches.

The only legislator to vote against the motion was Civic Passion’s Cheng Chung-tai, the lone opposition figure in Legco following the mass resignation of the bloc in response to the disqualification of some colleagues.

Cheng described the changes as unnecessary, saying Beijing’s planned shake-up of the city’s elections system was being designed to screen out those who might “misbehave”.

“If all lawmakers are already deemed ‘patriots’ in future, what’s the point of making further amendments to suspend them?” Cheng said. “The move would only further stifle the room for discussion in Legco.”

But Paul Tse Wai-chun, who moved the amendments as chairman of Legco’s rules of procedure committee, said the overhaul was not aimed at the opposition but to bring back “rational debate” to the city legislature.