National Anthem Bill Chair, Vice-chair Elected

Lawmakers on Tuesday elected pro-establishment legislators Martin Liao and Horace Cheung as the chair and vice-chairman of Legco’s Bills Committee on the National Anthem Bill.

64 members have joined the committee, which is tasked with scrutinising the controversial planned legislation that would ban insults against the national anthem.

The committee’s new chairman, executive councillor Martin Liao, beat the Civic Party’s Dennis Kwok by 35 to 23 votes. Executive Councillor Horace Cheung of the DAB, who won the vice-chairmanship, also defeated Dennis Kwok by 35 to 23 votes.

Meanwhile, the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Patrick Nip, admitted that he did not consult the legislature before putting forward the national anthem bill to the council.

The bill also requires that the song be played and sung when lawmakers or judges take their oath of office.

At a Legco Bills Committee meeting on the proposed legislation, Civic Party lawmaker Dennis Kwok asked why the government only consulted members of the judiciary but not lawmakers, and whether the government was deliberately hiding the requirement from lawmakers.

In response, Nip said he did raise the issue with Legco President Andrew Leung before the bill was introduced to the council, but only verbally.

But Kwok said such practice was unusual because the government would usually write to the council formally, adding that he wondered why the Legco President didn't inform other lawmakers about the issue either.