Special LegCo meeting to end impasse

The Legislative Council's House Committee will have a special meeting on Friday afternoon to consider legal advice on the committee's current impasse, its incumbent chairperson, Starry Lee Wai-king, announced on Monday.

Earlier, two senior counsels advised LegCo President Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen that Lee is entitled to assume control of committee operations not affected by the election impasse.

Lee said the decision to convene the meeting was in line with her rights granted by the Rules of Procedure and the House Rules — two guidelines of LegCo's operation. She will decide whether to adopt the legal advice at the meeting and press ahead with other agenda items.

Because of opposition-camp filibustering, the committee has failed to elect a chairperson in 16 meetings over the past six months. The situation has resulted in 14 bills and more than 20 subsidiary regulations being put on hold, leading to partial paralysis of the legislature.

The committee will hold its 17th meeting to elect a chairperson on Friday morning. Opposition lawmaker Dennis Kwok Wing-hang will preside as usual.

Lee said that if the election of a chairperson were to be successfully concluded at the morning meeting, the new chairperson would take charge of the rest of the committee's agenda. If not, she will hold the meeting to discuss the advice of the senior counsels.

The Rules of Procedure and the House Rules clearly show that pending the election of a new chairman, the incumbent House Committee chairman should have all the usual powers to conduct the committee's business, said Benjamin Yu Yuk-hoi and Suen Jenkin in their legal advice.

If she were to assume this authority, Lee would be in a position to move legislation that has been held up by the committee's failure to elect a new chairperson.

The counsels noted that Lee could organize meetings to handle the backlog caused by the impasse, especially those issues that need immediate attention. However, Lee, who is standing for re-election as chairperson, should continue to stay out of the election process, they added.

The advice was supported by lawmakers. Barrister Priscilla Leung Mei-fun said the senior counsels have accurately interpreted the Rules of Procedure, which was promulgated to guarantee the legislature's proper function.

She urged Lee to adopt the advice in order to speed up the deliberation of stalled bills. Leung suggested Lee use the power granted by the Rules of Procedure to set a clear timetable for House Committee meetings. Other than 15 minutes for electing a chairperson, the committee's time could be used to handle other affairs, Leung said.

Another lawmaker, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, said the legal advice is "valuable" and "worth accepting." She noted the counsels have cited several authoritative court rulings on local and overseas cases, which all reflected that interpretation of regulations should adopt a purposeful approach.