Lawmakers Ejected, Injured In Legco Pandemonium

There was mayhem once again in Legco on Monday with pro-democracy lawmakers dragged out and left lying injured on the floor, as the two camps continued their battle for control of the House Committee.

More than 40 minutes before the meeting was due to get underway, insurance sector lawmaker Chan Kin-por was already sitting in the chairman's seat. The room hadn't yet been opened to lawmakers and it wasn't clear how he had already managed to get inside.

Security guards formed a cordon in front of him, with pan-dems later gathering in front of them, in a scene reminiscent of the last House Committee meeting on May 8 which descended into chaos.

As Monday's shenanigans got underway, Council Front's Claudia Mo waved a banned which read "CCP tramples HK's legislature", while the Democratic Party's Ted Hui argued with Chan that the meeting was "illegal".

The session started at 11am as planned, with Chan warning members they risked a prison sentence if they obstructed Legco business.

But that didn't stop the pan-dems, who were brandishing a large piece of black cloth, from chanting and scuffling with security guards.

The Civic Party's Tanya Chan was the first to be ordered to leave, as she shouted through a loudhailer that the pro-government camp should be ashamed of themselves.

Pro-establishment lawmakers led by Michael Luk from the FTU chanted back "black violence".

After Tanya Chan, Hui, Chu Hoi-dick and Roy Kwong were the next to be ordered out.

Chan Kin-por appealed to the lawmakers being thrown out not to resist the security guards or someone would get hurt.

Less than 10 minutes went by before the meeting was adjourned, with Chu lying injured on the floor.

The meeting resumed at around 11.30am, with Andrew Wan, Kwok Ka-ki, Alvin Yeung, Helena Wong, Ray Chan, Shiu Ka-chun and Lam Cheuk-ting soon also booted out.

A security guard, meanwhile, was on a stretcher after apparently being injured, while Hui and Wan also said that they had been hurt during all the commotion.

With only a few pan-dems left in the room, Chan Kin-por said voting on a chairperson could begin and asked for ballot papers to be distributed.

On Friday, Legco president Andrew Leung declared that Chan Kin-por, from the pro-establishment camp, would preside over the election of a House Committee chairperson being as the position has gone unfilled for seven months.

Leung said he was invoking his power under article 92 of the council’s rules of procedure to tell Chan Kin-por to replace the Civic Party's Dennis Kwok, who has allowed filibustering of House Committee meetings since last October.

The House Committee didn't hold its regular meeting last Friday following the scuffles and chaos at the meeting the previous week. Wan and Ray Chan from the pro-democracy camp said they had filed police reports after being injured by their rivals.

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