Hong Kong lawmakers expected to approve Article 23 bill on Tuesday after resumption of second reading brought forward
- Special meeting will be convened at 9am on Tuesday, paving way for lawmakers to pass the Safeguarding National Security Bill
- Lawmakers completed clause-by-clause scrutiny of bill in just six days last week
Hong Kong lawmakers are expected to unanimously approve a domestic national security bill on Tuesday night after the legislature backed a government request for a special meeting to bring forward the resumption of its second reading.
If the Safeguarding National Security Bill is passed, authorities will have taken only 50 days from the launch of the public consultation exercise to writing it into law.
Legco president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen said he supported the completion of the legislation under “the sooner, the better” principle to plug the national security loophole. No 2 official Eric Chan Kwok-ki said he looked forward to working with all sectors to move the city’s focus to economic development.
Each of the 88 lawmakers is allowed to speak for a maximum of 10 minutes before a vote on the motion on Tuesday.
A committee of the whole council will discuss whether to support the 91 amendments proposed by the government. This will be followed by the third reading debate, after which the legislation can be voted on.
“We expect that these could be done within a day,” said Ben Chan Han-pan, a lawmaker from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, the city’s largest political party.