The sixth Legislative Council was postponed for one year. After the democrats resigned in November last year, the Chamber was almost "all in color," and most of the time it operated under the "new normal" without pan-democracy.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said at the question and answer session of the Legislative Council earlier that the legislative work has achieved gratifying results. If the bills passed this year and the bills already in progress can all be passed before the adjournment, the current legislative council There will be a total of 45 bills passed in the 2020-2021 legislative year, which will be the most effective year in the past 20 years.
"Hong Kong 01" counts the attendance rate of members of the extended parliament, the number of counts, and the number of bills passed, and analyzes the difference between the operation of the extended parliament and the past.
Statistics found that the attendance rate of the Legislative Council members in the past year was 97%. Most of the members who were still in office had a slightly higher attendance rate than in the first 4 years of the sixth legislative session. Among the 43 remaining members, 65% of them were members. The attendance rate has improved during the postponement of one year. If 11 members with a 100% attendance rate are added, the attendance rate of 90% of the members has improved or remained "perfect".
According to Pakatan Harapan member Liu Yeqiang, the increase in bills passed by the Legislative Council this year is the result of the efforts of the establishment. "Everyone wants to have a high attendance rate." He believes that under the leadership of the executive, the Legislative Council still has a role of checks and balances, "it is not a play."
Some scholars have pointed out that the high attendance rate may reflect that the establishment is endorsed by the "perfect election system." They questioned that the attendance rate does not reflect the situation of "three or two kittens" during meetings. The increase in passing bills is not necessarily a good thing.
Extension of office as one of the Legislative Council series
After the resignation of the democrats, the attendance rate of the conference once dropped to 73%
According to data collected from the public information of the Legislative Council, the attendance rate of the Legislative Council meeting between 2020 and 2021 (as of the last meeting on July 21 before the summer vacation, the same below) is 97%; after the democrats resigned in November last year, only left Chen Peiran and Zheng Songtai, a enthusiastic citizen of the under-establishment system, the medical circle, had an average attendance rate of 99%, 2 percentage points higher.
However, if we analyze the attendance rate of each meeting, the attendance rate of the first 4 meetings of this session is 100% for two sessions and 98% for the two sessions. Later, because the Pan-Democratic legislators decided to resign and boycott the meeting, the attendance rate was increased. It began to decline sharply, and the absence of two established members of the assembly from November 18 to 19 brought the attendance rate to a minimum of 73%.
When the democrats’ resignation took effect in December, the attendance rate returned to 98% to 100% of the original meeting; in other words, the overall attendance rate of 97% this year was mainly due to the pan-democratic boycott of the meeting.
On November 12 last year, the pan-democracy party resigned in response to the DQ incident of the National People's Congress. The Democratic Party, represented by four people including Hu Zhiwei, submitted a resignation letter to the office of the President of the Legislative Council.
(Profile picture/Photo by Zhang Haowei)
The attendance rate of 90% of incumbent members has increased this year
Among the 43 members of the Legislative Council who have been postponed for one year since October last year, the average attendance rate since 2016 has been 98%, while the overall attendance rate for this legislative year is 99%. The annual attendance rate is indeed 1% higher.
If you compare the attendance rate of each member, 28 of the 43 members have a higher attendance rate this year than in the past 4 years, accounting for 65% of the total. If 11 members with a perfect 100% attendance record are added, 90% of the members are The attendance rate has improved or remained perfect; only 4 members had a lower attendance rate this year than the overall attendance rate, accounting for about 10% of the members.
In the Legislative Council that was extended for one year, 28 people returned to the full meeting, including the DAB Li Huiqiong, the Federation of Trade Unions Mai Meijuan, the "squad leader" Liao Changjiang, the non-organized Chen Peiran and Zheng Songtai, etc.
Liu Yeqiang has the lowest attendance rate in the whole term, but he "returns to full": checks and balances the government's "do not play games".
As for the "truant dragon" among everyone, the attendance rate is 92% when taking into account the entire sixth Legislative Council. Liu Yeqiang, a representative of the Heung Yee Bureau and the People's Republic of China, was "going to the foot hall" during the legislative year of his extension and attended all 38 meetings.
This year’s Pakatan Harapan Leung Mei-fen attended the meeting the most, with a total of 4 meetings, with 89% becoming the lowest attendance rate. The two absent meetings belonged to two consecutive days; followed by the two absent meetings respectively. Ye Liu Shuyi of the New Democratic Party, and Xie Weiquan from the field of construction, surveying and planning.
Regarding the 100% attendance rate of this year's meeting, Liu Yeqiang pointed out that the extension of the council is different from the previous one. Although his rural affairs in the New Territories are still busy, the meeting time is easier to arrange now. "Everyone works hard and wants a high attendance rate."
He pointed out that the postponement of the parliament is only one year, and the entire term of the Legislative Council is four years long. It is inevitable that members will be relaxed sometimes.
Liang Meifen absent from the conference 4 times: I must be quarantined when returning to the mainland due to family
Liu Yeqiang also pointed out that at the beginning of the operation of the Legislative Council this year, he was worried about the ability of the Legislative Council to check and balance the government, but under the operation, he believed that there was no such situation.
He emphasized that under the leadership of the executive, the government must also respect the Legislative Council, because the Legislative Council is composed of different sections of society and needs to be balanced.
When receiving enquiries, Liang Meifen explained that at the beginning of the year because of the death of the elderly at home, he had to go back to the mainland to deal with it. Because of the need to undergo quarantine back and forth, he was absent for a total of three meetings for two weeks. As for the absence of the Chief Executive’s questioning time on March 17, it was because of the need Attended the conference where Zhang Yong, deputy director of the Legal Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress, listened to the opinions of the legal profession on the revision of the electoral system.
The election of the new Legislative Council will be held in December. The sixth Legislative Council has been scheduled to be suspended on October 30. Members are currently taking summer vacation and the Assembly will be reopened in August.
Liang Meifen pointed out that the request for a registered vote at the meeting is a "political decision" that he hopes to express his position. There is no problem if the parliament does not wait for 5 minutes without a Rab.
(Profile picture / Photo by Luo Junhao)
The Legislative Extension Bill passed by a show of hands 16 times to vote for Liang Meifen: a divided vote is a political decision
Of the 28 laws currently passed by the Extension Council, 12 are for registering votes, including the "Improvement of the Electoral System (Consolidated Amendment) Bill 2021", the "Appropriation Bill 2021", etc., but since the general resignation of the Democrats , A total of 16 government bills do not need to be registered, but passed by a show of hands, including the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2021, which adds statutory holidays.
Leung Mei-fen said that the requirement for a registered vote is a "political decision." I hope to keep a record on individual issues. In the Legislative Council's always controversial motions, there will always be members of the Legislative Council asking for a registered vote, especially when it comes to personal motions that involve principles, or I hope to reflect the parliament’s attitude on this project. Even in a parliament dominated by the establishment, some members require a registered vote.
For example, she pointed out that one of the amendments she recently proposed was almost lost because of other establishments' registered votes. She also asked for a registered vote because she did not agree that a project was passed easily.
She emphasized that the remaining members are not "calling names for roll call." I believe that the decrease in registered votes also reflects that the council has become more normal and healthier.
She also pointed out that although the divided vote has to wait for 5 minutes to ring the bell and wait for the members to return to the conference hall, which saves time compared to the registered vote, the parliament is no longer in a "rabbit" state and believes that the divided vote has little effect on the progress of the meeting.
The Legislative Council passed the "Improvement of the Electoral System (Comprehensive Amendment) Bill 2021" in the third reading in May this year. All 43 members attended and voted by a registered vote.
(Photo by Lu Yiming)
Scholars: The establishment is vying for performance, but members can leave after a roll call
Zhong Jianhua, the deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong Civil Affairs Research Institute, who was an assistant professor of the Department of Applied Social Sciences at PolyU, believes that the establishment has "do a good job" in terms of attendance. The opportunity is for the democrats to perform after they leave the parliament. System" endorsement.
However, he questioned the Legislative Council’s system that allows members to leave after attending a roll call. For example, when he watched the live broadcast of the Legislative Council on TV, he found that "sometimes there are three or two kittens in the Chamber."
Zhong Jianhua also pointed out that an increase in the number of passed bills is not necessarily a good thing. For example, the "Improving the Electoral System" bill involves a large stack of documents but can be passed in a short period of time. Inferring from the content of the speech, some members are more likely to be fundamental I haven't read the provisions carefully, worrying that this kind of "efficiency" may not be a good thing.
He also pointed out that there is not much spark in parliamentary debates today. A large number of government-promoted bills have been passed easily, and there are many secret ballots. In the future, no one will be held accountable for problems with algorithmic bills.
Liang Junyan: There are more than 10 meetings left in the parliament. 30 bills are pending. The Bills Committee calls on the Bills Committee to cooperate with the Democratic Party to ring the bell twice to interrupt He Junyao’s speech. "Wenty" Left-behind Pan-Civil Fighting Challenge Legislative Council Extension Starts | A Review of the Major Events of this Session: From DQ to Occupation of Parliament, 4 years turned upside down
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