Lift pranks, filibusters all in a day's work at Legco
Delaying tactic by radicals to oppose the budget was nearly aided by what seemed to be practical jokes on three lawmakers
Two suspected pranks in the lifts of the legislature building yesterday almost added to a delay in budget debates, which are just starting to be dragged out by radical lawmakers' filibustering.
The plenary session could have been put off to next week, but three legislators who were held up in the lifts made it to the chamber each time to meet the quorum for the debate to go on.
I have asked the secretariat to handle it seriously," Tsang said. "If the person is found to be an assistant, I hope the lawmaker can also handle it seriously
Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing said the hoax, if proven, could be a criminal offence. He requested "serious handling" of the reported incidents.
"I have asked the secretariat to handle it seriously," Tsang said. "If the person is found to be an assistant, I hope the lawmaker can also handle it seriously."
Legco convened on the second day of deliberations on the budget, proposed in late February, with the government stepping up its attack on filibustering.
Four radical politicians who were bent on challenging the bill because of its omission of universal pensions proceeded to only their second out of 148 planned debate sessions to discuss more than 700 amendments.
Professor Chan Ka-keung, secretary for financial services and the treasury, called for "a termination of the senseless, meaningless so-called filibuster". He slammed the radicals' speeches as "hardly relevant" to the bill.
