Pro-govt Camp Takes Stranglehold Over Legco Panels

Pro-establishment lawmakers have tightened their grip on the extended Legislative Council by winning the chairmanship of 16 of 18 panels decided so far, to the dismay of their pan-democratic rivals who warned that their voices would not be heard in upcoming debates in the legislature.

As part of their filibustering attempt, the pan-democrats tried to nominate one another and raise procedural questions in the elections. But their pro-establishment colleagues presiding over the vote blocked their attempt and limit the nomination time.

They had written to Legco's secretary-general in advance, saying only their chosen candidates would accept the nominations.

The pan-democrats could do little but to chant slogans as ballots were counted, such as "five demands, not one less" and "release the 12 HongKongers".

Pan-democratic legislators presided over the election of two other panels – welfare services as well as information technology and broadcasting – where no vote was taken within the allotted half-hour meetings. But pro-government lawmakers are expected to take control of them as well and complete a sweep.

The Democratic Party's Ted Hui said the elections on Thursday and Friday were unfair and accused the pro-Beijing camp of abusing their power to suppress opposition voices.

He said his rivals' power grab is just the beginning, and he expects his pro-government colleagues to suppress his camp's views and protests during upcoming debates.

Hui also criticised his rivals for reporting to the police, accusing him of removing votes from a ballot box on the first day of the elections.

"It's laughable because it's Legco affairs but they are relying on the police's power to take control of the Legco meetings. This is obviously threatening us, and this is also threatening us under the newly enacted national security law," he said.

"But of course, we will show our courage... we would not give up. We will fight till the end."

Pro-government lawmaker Junius Ho is his camp's chosen candidate to head the IT panel, where a chairman has yet to be elected. He accused his rivals of acting like "kindergarten children", saying they are not fit to be legislators.

But Ho also said he's not too worried about their delaying tactics when the legislature vets more controversial items over the next year.

"They are just peanuts. What they can achieve is just to pay monkey tricks to try to catch the eyeballs of Hong Kong people. But in substance, they could not really delay that long. We can always manage to get rid of the filibuster," he said.

Ho said his camp would not hesitate to report to the police again if their rivals resort to violent or illegal tactics.

The panels would proceed to elect vice-chairmen in the coming meetings.

The pro-government side has already taken over the powerful House Committee and Finance Committee in the extended Legco session after the government postponed elections scheduled for September by a year, citing the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, the DAB's Starry Lee was re-elected House Committee chief and Chan Kin-por was again named Finance Committee chairman.