Opposition Continues To Stall Bills Committee

Pro-democracy lawmakers resorted to various methods on Tuesday to stall a meeting of a Legco bills committee tasked with vetting the government's proposed extradition law changes, and the panel was yet to elect a chairman an hour into the two-hour session.

A number of opposition lawmakers again complained that the committee's meeting a fortnight ago was arranged in haste, and that they were only given a few days to sign up for the panel.

They also said that the last meeting clashed with one held by the public works subcommittee, with some questioning if the Legco secretariat was colluding with the government and the pro-Beijing camp.

As the most senior lawmaker in the council, Democrat James To was presiding over the bills committee meeting and he gave each member two minutes to speak about their concerns over the arrangements.

At the start of the meeting, To reiterated that he has to preside over the meeting carefully, otherwise the legitimacy of the chairman eventually selected and the work of the committee could be affected.

The committee's first meeting witnessed a lot of acrimony and ended without achieving anything. The pro-government side had blasted To for his conduct and accused him of filibustering, an accusation the Democratic Party member denied.