Politicians only ask how to establish a promising parliament with zero compromise.

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Written by: Chen Yanlin

2019-12-15 19:58

The failure of the parliament is the system's fault or the system's fault? The current session of the Legislative Council has only the second half of the year, but it has not achieved much. It is not difficult to find that in the political climate of binary opposition, which only asks for positions, and does not ask for justifications, the quality of parliamentarians' parliamentary affairs deteriorates, and the government's administration is also difficult. Some commentators point out that the parliament is a platform for negotiating the people on behalf of the people and bringing together a variety of platforms. Therefore, all congressmen should put aside their prejudices and differences and seek consensus through negotiation, rather than "seeking the fire". Others believe that the functions of parliamentarians are subject to " Due to the limitations of the Basic Law and the abuses of the electoral system and functional constituencies, it is difficult to translate political ideas into substantive initiatives. In the era of post-legislative amendment, the Legislative Council still has clear barriers and stubborn swords. Is this our ideal promising parliament?

"At present, the Legislative Council is very typical of" seeking speculation. "There are many candidates for the chairman of the committee. Members want to slow down the whole process. This is unprecedented." Said Li Huaming, a former Democratic Party legislator. The meeting with Li Huaming coincided with the beginning of the last legislative year of the current Legislative Council. Unexpectedly, his answer was not outdated more than a month later. In previous years, the chairmen and vice chairmen of various committees were successfully elected at the beginning of the resumed session.

Li Huaming, a former member of the Democratic Party ’s Legislative Council, said that the current Legislative Council is a typical “crazy.” (Photo by Gao Zhongming)

The Legislative Council Assembly, the Inner Committee, the Finance Committee and its two subgroups, as well as the 18 subcommittees, have a total of 45 chairmen and vice-chairmen. Except for the four-year term of office of the chairman of the council, other positions must be re-elected every year. Li Huaming said that in the past, the Pan-People's Coordination of candidates was based on the nature of the committee. Among them, committees involving major issues such as finance and political system were usually contested by the military. Pan-People can occasionally get a share after a hard hit (Democratic Party Liu Huiqing) (Formerly the Chairman of the Finance Committee), but he observed that the anti-revision movement has worsened the relationship between the two camps and naturally gave up on the choice of chairman.

This year's Internal Committee can be described as a "hit area." The House Committee, which prepares the meetings of the Legislative Council and is responsible for supervising and handling bills, has held ten meetings since October. After more than a few hours of discussion, the chairman and vice chairmen have not been elected. The Chief Secretary for Administration, Zhang Jianzong, wrote a blog on Sunday (December 8) under the heading "It will be urgent for the Legislative Council to get out of the alley", saying that the inner conference is an important "gear" of the Legislative Council. The Chairman is completely "closed." It is deeply regrettable that the situation has never been seen before. He warned that the "lockout" of the House of Representatives has hampered many tasks, such as the inability to make decisions on the debate arrangements for the Motion of Thanks in the 2019 Policy Address, the decision on whether to set up a committee to review bills and subsidiary legislation submitted by the government, and it is likely to affect 32 in the future. The scrutiny of a government bill, including statutory maternity leave, improving building fire safety, and so on, will be overturned if it is not passed annually.

Game of Politics and People's Livelihood

In the dispute between the chairmen and vice-chairmen of the Panel, the Pan-Public People did not hesitate to mobilize to join the committee to grab the beach, but they gradually withdrew after the election of the chairperson. For example, 12 members of the staffing subcommittee retired and 15 members of the public works subcommittee resigned Coincidentally, they are all formed camps. Li Huaming criticized that it was very disgraceful to choose a "stupid person", reflecting that members' participation in the committee was purely political considerations, and that the election of the chairman symbolized the beginning of the session. As for some members of the Democratic Party claiming that the Rab war, which continued from October to the present, aims to force the government to respond to the five major demands, Li Huaming also criticized that the meeting has been held more and time has been spent, but the actual results have been few. It is true that perhaps the re-lapping is not only hindering the revision of laws and policies, but also the pace of society, and it is only the well-being of the people of Hong Kong that are affected.

(Profile picture / Photo by Luo Junhao)

According to the Legislative Councillors and political group polls released by the Hong Kong Research Association last week, the scores of the entire Legislative Councillor's ability to discuss politics, monitor government work, and overall performance were only 2.03 points, 2.08 points, and 2.10 points, respectively, compared with 2017. The 2.21 points, 2.32 points and 2.26 points obtained from the survey in the same period of the year were low. Researchers believe that the relevant score is lower than the general level of 3, reflecting the dissatisfaction of many citizens and members of the political constituency, calling on them to actively play the role of public opinion representatives. In addition, a political party survey released by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in July 2016 also showed that only 5.3% of the citizens surveyed were satisfied with the performance of political parties; they said that “ordinary” and “dissatisfaction” each accounted for nearly 50% and nearly 40%. In recent years, 24.7% of them are dissatisfied that "Parties can't do practical things", followed by "Political parties only fight for their own interests, not sincerely seek benefits for the citizens" (15.7%) and "Political parties can only argue with each other" (15.2%) . From the above survey, we can see that the citizens have become tired of parliamentary opposition, political parties' fierce fighting, and even doubt their motive for politics, and this may have become an intangible constraint on the development of political parties, which deserves reflection among political parties.

Was this the original situation in Parliament? Every time they visit former MPs who have stepped down, whether formed or popular, they are happy to talk about a parliamentary career that makes a difference. Li Huaming, a elected member of the District Council, the Urban Council and the Legislative Council since 1991, has been a spokesman for the Democratic Party ’s consumer rights policy. He was also a member of the Consumer Council from 2007 to 2013, and is committed to promoting the Amendments to the Ordinance to combat misleading or intimidating marketing practices. He recalled that in addition to moving debates and contacting the media, he had to lobby members and officials of various parties in advance. "These are all behind-the-scenes efforts. Everyone at the stage is" doing the same. "Many things are communicated well in advance. Many times you ca n’t just make a phone call. ”In his 20-year parliamentary life, he has also promoted the implementation of the“ Nutrition Information Labeling System ”, drafted a private draft of the Fair Competition Act, and proposed the establishment of an independent statutory body The "Tourism Supervision Bureau" and so on, whether it is successful or not, it will take time for the introduction of policies and amendments to the law. "It may take up to ten years, and it is by no means complete in one or two sessions."

"But I believe that in the Legislative Council today, these examples are zero." Indeed, Li Huaming felt that the political operation of today's parliament is more than dealing with people's livelihood issues. What attracts him most is Rabbi, and he asks back. "What's the significance of Rab?" In recent years, the establishment factions have successfully revised the Rules of Procedure. By reducing the number of statutory meetings, limiting the number of amendments submitted, and simplifying the voting process, the Rab space of the legislative assembly and committees of democratic parties has been greatly reduced. However, the resumption of the Legislative Council this year and the recurrence of a raging trend will undoubtedly slow down the progress of pending projects. Li Huaming believes that both camps have responsibilities. "Now the two sides can't communicate, and one big (organization) and one small (pan people). What's worse is that the big one will always win, and only talk about voting without reason, and know it carefully. Voting is not good for you, so I use other methods to trouble you ... Rab, provocation, challenge the chairman's decision ... It makes it difficult for the council to function properly, because you "just" us, so we use other methods to counter you. "

Emily considers Rab to be the government. (Photo by Gao Zhongming)

Former Democratic Party Chairman Emily Lau also had a similar interpretation, saying that the pan-people knew that they did not have enough votes, but she regarded the "government" as a protagonist, and blamed the problem on "injustice of the system." (Comprehensive) Direct election and I (Democrats) are a minority. I accept it, but not now. You have many functional constituencies, and everyone will feel very unfair. "Chief Executive Lin Zheng Yue'e twice accepted an exclusive interview with Emily Lau during the election. The two talked and laughed. You come and go; until last year, she attended the Democratic Party's celebration as the Chief Executive, and donated 30,000 yuan to Li Huaming's "Smile and Look" to help cheer; but more than a year later, due to Lin Zhengqiang's amendment to the "Fugitive Offenders Regulations" Hu Zhiwei, the always modest and polite Chairman of the Democratic Party, couldn't help but yell at the Chief Executive's questioning session and yell at each other for "eight wives" ... Looking back, Emily Lau sighed that one person had made a concession before, but today she did not give in.

Confrontation between the system and the people

In early December, 25 democratic lawmakers filed a joint motion, accusing Lin Zheng Yue'e of neglecting his duties in amending the Fugitive Offenders Regulations, condoning police use of excessive force, etc., and impeaching him. After two days of more than 20 hours of debate, the motion was rejected because the functional constituency did not receive more than half of the support. However, the Democrats are a minority of the Legislative Council. They also have less than one-third of the seats in the functional constituencies. That is, it is impossible for the impeachment motion to be successfully passed in group votes. Two votes passed the impeachment motion with legal effect. On the other side, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong Huang Dingguang and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions Huang Guojian moved respectively on Wednesday (11th) to remove the members of the Civic Party Chen Shuzhuang and the social welfare sector Shao Jiazhen who were each sentenced to prison in the Occupy China case. According to Article 79 of the Basic Law, members have been sentenced to imprisonment for more than one month, and have been disqualified after passing by two-thirds of the Members present in the Legislative Council. If all 68 members of the parliament were present to vote, 46 votes would be required, but the formation would only have 42 votes after removing Chairman Liang Junyan, and 4 votes owed to pass the motion. The question is, the two camps with clear barriers could not successfully pass the motion at all, why do they know they cannot do it?

"Society is torn, and parliament will be torn." Li Huaming said helplessly, and now many things are "slogan first, stand first". The two factions will never communicate and become a rage, and will only become more divided. He said that opposition has always existed, but there was some room for compromise before. For example, in 1991, he represented the meeting point in the Legislative Council Kowloon East to compete for one of the 18 regional direct elections. In the same period, there were 21 indirectly elected functional constituencies. And 17 appointed Governors of Hong Kong and 4 ex officio members, although the latter two are bound to speak in unison with the government, they will still strive for cooperation in policy formulation or legislative amendments.

Li Huaming pointed out that the two factions will never communicate and become invincible, and will only become more divided. (Photo / Photo by Li Zetong)

Li Huaming is very puzzled. When the parliament has been torn apart, members of the condemnation of each other, the meeting is difficult to hold, and the discussion is difficult, the legislative council members who boast of public opinion can still bring the voice of citizens into the parliament? When the parliament stagnates, it will only slow down many bail-out measures, but it cannot solve many real and imminent problems. Why can't the two sides sit down and communicate well?

"Every meeting is like fighting, which is very angry and regrettable." Emily Lau said that the ideal state of a political party is to organize strength, let go of prejudices, find consensus, and respond to the citizens, rather than self-castration. Unfortunately, there is no space and no People are willing to communicate. "Parliament is the place where society solves problems. If the parliament also becomes a problem, it is a big problem. Maybe you will say," Now there are not enough votes. "In fact, many parliaments (from around the world) do not have enough votes, but others communicate through compromise. To seek consensus will always be related to politics, but now everyone does not take this path at all. "Emily Lau said earnestly, despite the many debates before and after 1997, everyone was willing to negotiate rationally." In fact, many members I really wanted to make a difference. At that time, everyone realized that it was difficult to do things on their own in the parliament. They must seek more votes. "

The idea of ​​the "eight-party consensus" was born. Emily Lau advocated the establishment of the "Eight-Party Alliance" in 2001. Tian Beijun, the then member of the Legislative Council of the Liberal Party, was the convener, bringing together the Democratic Party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment, the Liberal Party, the Breakfast Party, the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance, the frontline, the Workers ’Union and the ADPL A total of 44 of the 60 votes of eight organizations in the Legislative Council have become the majority of the parliament with the right to veto government proposals. They have also reinvigorated the economy and relieved people's plights on tax rebates, rate relief, air quality improvement, and freezing of public transport charges. Issues have put pressure on the government to force the authorities to make concessions and change policies. However, the "eight-party alliance" only lasted for three years. "After 2004, the China United Nations Office said no, I still remember that Tian Beijun quoted the China United Nations Office as saying that the" eight-party consensus "is challenging" administrative leadership. " "Legislative-led." Emily Lau felt that different spectrums could find consensus. "Because we are not so different on some matters." Unfortunately, in the past, they were willing to discuss for the people's livelihood. Today, they have gradually changed to "You support, I oppose." .

(Photo / Photo by Yu Junliang)

Emily Lau emphasized that even if the parliament loses order, its role cannot be denied. Because it is always a place that reflects public opinion, members of the parliament should be elected through elections, and actively seek consensus through consultation, and then submit the proposal to the government. However, she also added that the government is an important factor in the ability of members to negotiate peacefully, because the establishment faction is mostly reluctant to the authorities. "Maybe many people don't mind talking, but maybe the boss is unwilling to do so. Everyone knows if they can't talk. With good results, there is no way to go without consensus. "

The above excerpt is from the 193rd issue of "Hong Kong 01" Weekly (December 16, 2019). "Politicians ask only. How to establish a promising parliament with zero compromise?" ".

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