The role of the Legislative Council・Part 1｜The government's ignorance of the parliament's difficulty in deliberating over epidemic prevention regulations

There was a "small protest" in the Legislative Council earlier. The SAR government suggested that the arrangement of tightening or relaxing the number of people in the "gathering restriction order" should be changed from the current legislative form of "setting up and then reviewing" to the Food and Health Bureau. The Secretary directly gazetted the announcement to take effect. As a result, cross-party lawmakers questioned the oversight of the Legislative Council, and the authorities finally withdrew the amendment.

Although the incident highlights the importance of the courageous voice of legislators, it also makes people wonder how many legislators can “reverse the victory” under the increasing “executive leadership”?

Although the Legislative Council is a "legislative body" as its name suggests, it is actually more of a "legislative body", because the powers of lawmakers to make proposals are quite limited, and their main job is only to amend government bills.

Last year, the central government took action to amend the electoral system. Has there been any subtle changes in the functions and roles of the Legislative Council?

How do these Hong Kong rulers, who are regarded as public opinion and industry representatives, check and balance and cooperate with the government?

On May 23, during the meeting of the Subcommittee on Subsidiary Legislation Related to Disease Prevention and Control, the Legislative Council discussed the Government's proposal to empower the Secretary for Food and Health to use public announcements to revise the gathering restriction order, which once aroused dissatisfaction among many members.

Almost all subsidiary legislation must be reviewed or approved by the Legislative Council through the two procedures of "enactment followed by deliberation" or "deliberation followed by enactment". Take the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance as an example. Subsidiary legislation that takes effect in the form of "restriction of gatherings" or the relaxation or tightening of the "mask order", etc., still need to be submitted to the Legislative Council for review and resolution after being gazetted; however, the authorities suggest that changes should be made in the form of "announcement" , that is, no further deliberation by Members is required.

Many lawmakers have criticized the incident as depriving the Legislative Council of its power to deliberate policies after the fact and violating procedural justice.

After several tug-of-war, the authorities remained firm, triggering a joint proposal of "anti-amendment" by lawmakers from different sectors to ensure parliamentary deliberation power. The government finally withdrew the proposal because it failed to obtain enough votes, maintaining the original "deliberation first" approach.

The incident undoubtedly highlights the importance of the courageous voice of MPs in order to play.

Electoral Commissioner Jie Jiang Yuhuan was one of the members of the Legislative Council who mainly opposed the government's revision. She hoped that the authorities would continue to maintain a rational interaction with the parliament.

Some time ago, Jiang Yuhuan, who had been in the parliamentary hall for five months as a non-party member, had a lot of emotions about the parliamentary ecology...

For details, please read the 322nd issue of "Hong Kong 01" e-Weekly Newsletter (June 20, 2022) "

The role of the Legislative Council・Part 1｜The government's ignorance of the parliament's difficulty in deliberating over epidemic prevention regulations

"Playing tai chi" and "linguistic pseudo-art" are official expressions used by citizens to ridicule some officials when they answered questions. They kept expressing their deep concern for existing problems and recounting the past work of the government, but there was no clear reply and no clear solution. problem promise.

(Photo by Luo Junhao)

Jiang Yuhuan said that he, like other "Shan Ding MPs", did not know the policy until "very late" and could only express his opinions at the Bills Committee, but "if you don't agree to change once, you will make trouble with me."

(Photo by Liang Pengwei)