The 2016 Legislative Council (Legco) General Election has already become a thing of the past. What attracts more attention now is how a new-term Legco formed with some new members will operate, what changes there will be, and whether eventually it will obstruct or benefit the development of Hong Kong society.
In the newly-formed Legco, it could be said, there are "three changes and three non-changes". One of the "three changes" is that traditional pro-democratic parties have less seats and some new replacements. As such, there will be some change in their contending techniques and influence. The simplest example is the "retirement of "Dai Kow (big guy)" Albert Chan Wai-yip, the loudest voice of the "three filibustering fiends". The second of the "three changes" is that a bunch of "localists" have been elected. Strictly speaking, they have yet to be prepared for joining the establishment and ranking among the lawmakers, as it seems they are in haste and caught unawares given their familiarity with the Basic Law or the Legco's Rules of Procedure or their mental preparations for role change from being in the opposition to working in a branch of the government. The last of the "three changes" lies in that legislative affairs will be further politicised. Newly elected "localists" and the "successors" from the Democratic Party and Civic Party lack profound understanding and study of social, economic and people's livelihood affairs to start with, and as such they can hardly raise any relevant questions or proposals. The only way for them to "show their skills" is to vigorously pursue and fiercely attack government official at the political level. Little hope can be placed on their quality and efficiency in handling in legislative affairs.
One of the "three non-changes" is that the fundamental nature, functions and powers of Legco, a political structure of SAR, remain unchanged. Whoever joins the legislature, the provisions stipulated by "one country two systems" and the Basic Law remain unchanged. For the newly elected "localist" lawmakers, an indispensable "specified action" is to peruse and fully understand the meaning of all the 14 Articles in Section 3 The Legislature, of Chapter IV Political Structure in the Basic Law. Had they done this, Youngspiration's Leung Chung-hang "might not have made a monkey of himself by asserting that ‘the king of votes’ who has grabbed the most votes in direct election naturally becomes the [Legco] President". For, Article 71 of the Basic Law stipulates in black and white that the Legoc President is to be elected by and from among the Legco members, who must be a Chinese citizen of not less than 40 years of age and a permanent resident of the SAR with no right of abode in any foreign country and has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 20 years. Surely the post is not to be taken by "whoever grabbed the most votes".
The second non-change is that the pro-establishment's role of being the mainstay and its influence in the Legco remain unchanged. This non-change lies in, in the first place, that the pro-establishment camp has won 41 seats, so that it takes an active position in either voting of the whole council or in the split-voting that requires a majority vote of each of the two groups of members [returned from the geographical and functional constituencies] present. But more importantly, the pro-establishment lawmakers are familiar with and respect the Basic Law and Rules of Procedure, and they supervise on and coordinate with the administration of the SAR Government on the basis of all Hong Kong people's fundamental interests. What they strive to is to be able, on the one hand, to reflect public opinion and conform to the popular sentiments, and on the other hand, to effectively push forward the SAR Government's administration in accordance with the law, instead of "blindly approving" or "blindly opposing". As such, they indeed fulfill a lawmaker's due obligations and responsibilities. This has been convincingly proved in past terms of Legco. In this year's legco election, the pro-establishment camp had been constantly smeared by the opposition and Apply Daily. Despite this and despite the misleading by the ThunderGo's vote-allocation, it could still won 41 seats and grabbed nearly 200,000 more votes than in the prevision election. This was not accidental at all.
The third "non-change" certainly lies in the enhancement and improvement of the legislative and administrative relations. Within the framework of the Basic Law, executive-led is the mainstay and unchangeable. The legislature has the power of supervision but must not deter the SAR Government from governing in accordance with the law. This is clear and affirmative.
14 September 2016
