Central govt bodies say legislative impasse harms HK residents

The central government's bodies dealing with Hong Kong affairs on Monday expressed strong disapproval of some opposition lawmakers in Hong Kong for paralyzing the city's legislature, leaving many bills, including ones related to anti-epidemic measures, hanging in the air.

Their comments came after the House Committee of the Legislative Council in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which scrutinizes bills and subsidiary laws introduced to the legislature, failed to select a chairperson nearly six months after the current legislative session started in October. The failure of the committee to function was due in large part to filibustering by opposition lawmakers.

The spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said that the situation was deplorable and due to the pursuit of selfish political gain.

Bills are being held up by the impasse, which is having a direct impact on people's livelihoods, said the spokesperson, who urged legislators to do their duty by responding to the needs of Hong Kong's people.

The spokesperson at the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR expressed similar opinions.

The spokesperson said that after six months of unrest on the city's streets, people want to get their lives back to normal. Now people, whose livelihoods were threatened by riots, are threatened again by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier, 41 Hong Kong legislators issued a statement condemning the opposition lawmakers for disrupting the operation of the committee, leading to a standstill in its work.

A total of 14 bills remain in limbo, without having been debated or deliberated.

Eighty items of subsidiary legislation also are left hanging due to the ongoing chaos within the committee.

Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, a solicitor, said that the opposition lawmakers could be liable for misconduct in public office for going against their oaths when they block the normal operation of the legislature. By doing so, they may be disqualified from their seats if such cases were brought before a court, Wong said.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council expressed its support for a ruling of a Hong Kong appellate court, which ruled in favor of a ban by the Hong Kong government on the use of face masks at unlawful assemblies and protests.

The remark came after the Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled that it was constitutional for the government to introduce the Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance in a state of public danger.