Legco Debate Held Up By Adjournment Motions

The start of a Legco debate on the controversial national anthem bill was delayed by several minutes on Wednesday as opposition lawmakers moved successive adjournment motions calling for debates on the future national security law.

The meeting was first suspended briefly after pan-democratic camp convenor Tanya Chan asked for an adjournment motion over the new security law that is being discussed by the National People’s Congress.

Legco President Andrew Leung then resumed the session after rejecting Chan's request.

Then her colleague in the Civic Party, Dennis Kwok, moved a similar motion, demanding a discussion on reports of a possible ban on foreign judges handling national security cases.

The meeting was again suspended to consider Kwok’s proposal. After Leung rejected that proposal, Ray Chan moved an adjournment motion to debate police tactics around the Admiralty area.

That too was rejected by the Legco president quickly. He then ruled no more adjournment motions would be considered ahead of the debate on the national anthem bill.

The opposition reacted angrily to this, with the Democratic Party's Andrew Wan asking if the Legco chief has a crystal ball to predict the future. But Leung brushed aside the protests, saying the decision is within his powers.