Legco Panel Row Takes New Turn With Forgery Claims

The row over the Legco panel vetting the controversial extradition bill took another bizarre turn on Wednesday with some pro-government lawmakers reportedly urging police to look into what they claim are forged Legco documents prepared by Democratic Party legislator James To.

To quickly dismissed the accusation, insisting that he was just doing his duty as the "properly elected chairman" of the bills committee.

But whether To is actually the committee chair is still in dispute, with pro-government lawmakers claiming that he was elected at an illegitimate meeting on Monday, and committee members had previously agreed that veteran pro-establishment councillor Abraham Shek had actually taken over the duty of presiding over the committee.

But the pan-democrats insist the move to replace To with Shek violates Legco rules, and as such, To is the duly elected chairman.

The forgery allegation centres on documents To sent to committee members, asking if they can start the next meeting at 8.30am instead of 9am on Saturday. The papers name To as committee chairman.

According to newspaper reports, some pro-establishment lawmakers consider these papers as forgeries because they closely resemble documents that are usually sent out by the Legco Secretariat, and want law enforcement agencies to follow up on the matter

DAB councillor Ben Chan described the incident as being “very serious”, and called on both the Legco Commission and secretariat to investigate the matter.

For his part, To said on Wednesday that he is the properly elected committee chairman, and issuing circulars is a normal procedure.

He said he has nothing to worry about and will continue to carry out his duties.