The second vote on a motion of no confidence against Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in 10 months was defeated last night after a five-hour debate in the Legislative Council.
The motion had been tabled by Civic Party lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki who said the city had been "torn apart" since Leung had taken office.
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor described the motion as "empty", sparking a fierce exchange between pan-democrats and Beijing loyalists.
I regret to see the legislature, for the fifth time since last year, directing attacks at the chief executive [with the aim] of undermining his constitutional status and credibility
The pan-democrats criticised Leung’s integrity, his efforts to tackle housing and poverty issues, his scandal-plagued administration and his meeting this month with Philippine President Benigno Aquino over a fatal hostage incident.
Information technology lawmaker Charles Mok said the latest controversy, over free television licences, was another example of the government becoming "the enemy of Hongkongers".
The motion secured majority support of 17-15 among directly elected lawmakers but lost 9-17 in the trade seats. Independent lawmaker Lam Tai-fai and Liberal Party legislators abstained. Legco rules require a motion to be passed in both types of constituencies for a vote to go ahead.
