Local News
Tsang accused of power abuse as debate halted
Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing made an unprecedented move yesterday to halt a marathon debate, prompting one critic to label it "the legislature's darkest day."
The decision to halt the filibustering tactics of three pan-democrats at 4.30am allowed legislators to begin voting on the more than 1,300 amendments to the contentious by-election bill that is expected to take two to three days.
By late afternoon yesterday, only about 100 of the amendments raised by People Power lawmakers Raymond Wong Yuk-man and Albert Chan Wai-yip had been voted on and rejected.
Wong accused Tsang of denying members the right to express their views and of setting a bad precedent.
He also accused the Legco president of bowing to pressure from the Central Government Liaison Office and China's Communist Party.
"I can conclude that [the liaison office in] Western district and the Communist Party have pressured [Tsang] to halt the debate immediately, using any appropriate reasons," Wong said.
Chan said Tsang's move had deprived legislators of their right to speak on their amendments and described it as Legco's "darkest day."
The party threatened to move a vote of no-confidence in Tsang.
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