CE's Legco Session Disrupted Over 'liar' Call

Chief Executive Carrie Lam's question-and-answer session in Legco on Thursday was disrupted after a row involving pan-democrat convenor Claudia Mo, who accusing the top official of lying over extradition rule changes.

A brief adjournment by Legco president Andrew Leung failed to cool the situation as opposition lawmakers continued to question his ruling to eject Mo after she refused to withdraw her charge.

The opposition camp continued to dispute Leung's ruling, saying he was clamping down on their right to criticise officials.

The dispute started after Lam referred to a previous discussion on extradition held in 1997, quoting it as warning that the lack of an extradition deal with the mainland could make Hong Kong a haven for fugitives.

But the opposition camp objected to this, saying it was debated at that time and in the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance it was decided not to extradite people to the mainland.

Lam also said she was distressed by what she called “extreme views” and “unnecessary fear” expressed by some people over the proposed changes. She said this had triggered conflicts between the mainland and Hong Kong.

Earlier a handful of members from the League of Social Democrats staged a protest outside Legco to demand the withdrawal of the fugitive law amendment bill.

The party's chairman, Avery Ng, turned up with a puppet prop that had faces of Chief Executive Lam, Legco Secretary General Kenneth Chen and the DAB's Starry Lee.

He said his prop was to show Chen and DAB were mere puppets being used by the CE to push through the new law.

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