Time to let legislature be itself again

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Thursday said she supports the amendment of existing Rules of Procedure (RoP) of the Legislative Council. This is after both sides of the political divide agreed to form a cross-party panel in LegCo to review changes to current RoP in the near future. She said such a revision is necessary because the RoP have "fallen behind the reality".

The pro-establishment camp in LegCo has been pushing for a proper revision of the RoP ever since the opposition camp stepped up delaying tactics. People are fed up with their questionable tactics such as unreasonable filibustering and igniting endless arguments in recent years. This has prompted the pro-establishment side to go ahead with RoP revision without opposition participation.

Let no one assume the opposition parties had a change of heart when they demanded a cross-party committee be set up to review all the changes to the RoP down the road. On the contrary, that review panel will hopefully be the "first line of defense" for their ability to continue using filibusters however they want. At the very least it is unrealistic to look forward to such a U-turn by the opposition now. The fact is many people are convinced the opposition parties are genuinely worried they may lose their "weapon of choice" as a result of RoP revision, now that they are at least six votes short when the LegCo needs a majority decision. That said, forming such a committee requires a vote just the same.

People have no reason to believe the opposition parties are unaware of the public anger they have so wantonly stirred up by using all kinds of delaying tactics. These are designed solely to make the special administrative region government miserable. They never had to seriously worry about being reelected after thumbing their noses so many times at the voters, thanks to the existing LegCo election system. That is until now. The six-vote deficit may not be the end of the world for them just yet but their "critical minority" is no longer as secure. Their "value" as opposition lawmakers will be reduced considerably when their ability to interrupt and delay LegCo proceedings is drastically curtailed as a result of the RoP revision.

One may honestly wonder why the opposition parties want to upset so many people by doing what they have been doing all these years. But they are unlikely to hear an honest answer as long as the opposition camp feels comfortable being the "bad guys".

Still, the public would love to see them mend their ways and respect people's wishes. It is hoped the opposition lawmakers will stop using their delaying tactics so indiscriminately sooner rather than later. This is to convince the voting public they deserve another chance at serving the interests of Hong Kong society instead of always favoring their own political agenda and personal interests.

(HK Edition 11/10/2017 page12)