This Wednesday (July 14), the Legislative Council has passed the motion of the Honourable Tse Wai-chun to amend the Rules of Procedure.
The revised rules require members to "wear business clothes when necessary" during the meetings of the Legislative Council and committees of the whole. In addition, the number of members of the Bills Committee and Panels shall not exceed 15 or 20, and the chairman of the meeting shall be given the power to prohibit abuse by members The procedure raises procedural issues and penalizes unexcused absences by deducting daily wages.
Some establishment members said that the above amendments would help improve the quality of parliamentary proceedings, and some even described its effectiveness as "immediate."
However, although the relevant amendments may improve the "rabbit" situation of the parliament, the public will inevitably ask, can the quality of parliamentary proceedings be improved by simply changing the rules of procedure?
The new Legislative Council will be formed on December 19 this year, and 90 members will continue to perform the task of monitoring the government by the Legislative Council.
The society has always expected high-quality deliberations in the Legislative Council. Members should sincerely perform their duties and effectively monitor the government's administration through appropriate consultation and questioning. Unfortunately, in recent years, the current situation is that the quality of deliberations has been absent from meetings under every circumstance. As a result, the flow of meetings abounds, and most of the speeches at the table are also political expressions, failing to really act as a urging officials to improve governance.
Clothing and Penalties
One of the changes to the rules of procedure this time is to require members attending the meeting to "wear in business clothes." The arrangement may help establish a "professional image" in appearance.
However, pocket squares, collar bark, and cuff buttons will not make the councillors more noble and respected, because the quality of the proceedings depends on whether each councillor has a deep understanding of each policy and is willing to adopt an "emergency" approach. The attitude of "the people are urgent" requires politics to improve people's livelihood.
Huang Ping, director of the Research Center for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Hong Kong, pointed out in an interview with "Hong Kong 01" earlier, "Compared with the mainland, Hong Kong officials undoubtedly look glamorous, not only wearing suits at work. , Wear a tie, and have good foreign language and demeanor. The officials at the grassroots level in the interior are rustic, but when you compare their governance capabilities, you can see that you can’t just look at the surface.” This observation is also applicable to representatives of public opinion. Congressman.
As for the penalties and restrictions imposed on absentee meetings, in fact, there is no guarantee that Members can fully comply with them.
It is particularly ironic that the Hon Tse Wai-chun, who is in charge of proposing the motion this time, not only was the leader of the most absent voting members in the 2018 Legislative Council meeting, but also the next "Reform Housing" proposed by Tse Wai-quan and amended by Kwok Wai-keung. "Policy, Solve the Housing Problem" in the voting procedure of the motion absentee voting. How can people believe that the relevant amendments can improve the quality of their deliberations?
Seeking truth more than loyalty
In the past few years, the Hong Kong Legislative Council has undoubtedly fallen into chaos that is unbearable to witness.
On the one hand, members who disagreed with the government’s administration adopted radical tactics such as "rabbits", which led to the extremely low efficiency of the entire Legislative Council, and a single bill could have been deliberated for years; on the other hand, many establishment members asked questions. Or the speeches often fail to prescribe the right remedy, cannot directly denounce the government’s administrative abuses, and can only give some general opinions about "seeing the trees but not the forests", and failing to make strong inquiries about the docile officials. This reflects that they do not seem to be behind them. Liao Li delved into current affairs.
What Hong Kong society and the country expect to be in the parliament is not a group of establishment members who only know how to escort the government and live by themselves.
Earlier, Tian Feilong, director of the National Hong Kong and Macao Research Association, said "loyal waste" that embarrassed some people in the establishment, but he reluctantly reflected that it was "the king's new clothes."
After all, the dignity of a parliament and citizens’ confidence in "one country, two systems" are precisely based on their daily observations of relevant political figures.
In the final analysis, modifying the rules of procedure is not a random door to "quality of discussion."
Bringing the attention to the community’s livelihood affairs and the voice of the general public into the parliament is the best way to get rid of the stigma of members of the House of Representatives.
If the institutional politicians do not change the bad habit of slandering in the parliament in the past, they will record one or two audio recordings, add a few speakers, and send more than a dozen volunteers to distribute flyers in the bustling market, which will be of little use to the parliament or the entire society. effect.
In the 25th year of Hong Kong's return, "One Country, Two Systems" has reached a turning point in history, and it is about to usher in the key to the transition from 1.0 to 2.0.
At this critical moment, members of parliament must seek truth from the truth and take the initiative to help improve the government’s governance of society, instead of paying attention to whether or not they can restore trust in parliament through "business clothing" and other rules of procedure that have nothing to do with the content of the proceedings.
Members reprimand the government for laziness in administration. Don’t forget the moment to reflect on the establishment. The establishment should bear in mind that the crisis establishment members of the Liuhui crisis must perform their duties in the Legislative Council.