Filibusters signal HK's pending doom
Updated: 2013-05-21 06:59
By Lau Nai-keung(HK Edition)
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As filibusters come and go we are losing count of their number. Frankly speaking, we are also getting bored. In my more curious moments, I turned on the television to gets updates on the most recent episode of filibustering, only to find that most days it wasn't considered sufficiently newsworthy to be reported. But knowing Raymond Wong Yuk-man and his friends, we can rest assured that a filibuster must be there. Rare is the day that the LegCo is filibuster-free. No sooner is the last one terminated than the next one takes its place.
This reminds me of the situation in the United States, where since the Democrats regained majority control of the Senate six years ago, the Republicans under Mitch McConnell have applied filibusters (under a variety of names) at a frequency not seen before in US history. The goal of this strategy, which maximizes minority blocking power in a way not foreseen in the US Constitution, is to replace the simple majority rule (51 votes) with a stricter requirement for ending filibusters (60 votes).
Last month, an amendment to expand background checks on gun purchases failed to pass through the US Senate even though consideration of the bill was supported by 54 senators representing states that comprise 60 percent of the US population. That was a huge blow to the gun control movement, as the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut last December had provided it with an opportunity to gain a decisive win.
Doesn't this sound familiar? Aren't we in Hong Kong also witnessing a minority which has decided not to play by accepted rules? Filibustering clearly has nothing to do with a government's lack of democracy or legitimacy, as the dissidents' role model, the US, is also not immune to filibusters. The only difference between the US Senate and LegCo is that the US has a formal mechanism to end filibusters, while the latter can only terminate these hassles with a combination of luck and political finesse.
Filibustering, as used in Hong Kong, is a waste of time and resources. Although we say public resources, but not public time, time is also public. Many of us do not care if our legislators spend 24 hours a day in LegCo meetings, but it is not their time which we are talking about or concerned with. LegCo's time is Hong Kong's time and should be devoted to debate and deciding on issues that will have an impact on the city's administration and development.
The same is true for the time of our government officials. When dissidents corner them on the road, the officials lose face, but more importantly some public issues that need attending to are also affected. These losses must be made clear to the public.
Filibustering is so obviously pointless that the question whether Jasper Tsang Yok-sing has broken the rules is rendered moot. No system is abuse-proof - it works only because honorable people have the decency not to exploit the ambiguities for their benefit. The dissidents have opened Pandora's Box by aiming for the loopholes. They left Tsang in an impossible situation: He could have barred the filibuster from the start or allowed it to go on forever. Either of these options would have made LegCo a laughing stock. Tsang let the filibuster run for 11 days, a very sensible decision, but that's not the end of the story as his ruling may still be challenged by a judicial review.
The filibuster and judicial review combo is such a cliche it does not even raise eyebrows, but as citizens knowing that our city's future is at stake we must ask who is causing all these problems. The four filibustering lawmakers are not particularly blameworthy - radicals, after all, do radical things. There will always be extreme elements in our society, and some inevitably will be elected to LegCo. The only thing we can do is to deal with this minority properly, giving it no more and no less attention than it deserves.
The true culprits are the "moderate dissidents" who want to have the best of both worlds. They support neither the filibuster nor the termination of it, which is the most shameless position a politician can ever take.
This pathetic situation in LegCo is also a reflection of Hong Kong's pending doom. People here know that the dissidents will lead the city nowhere, but many find it hard emotionally to accept the central government's authority and influence. They had better make up their minds before it is too late.
The author is a member of the Commission on Strategic Development.
(HK Edition 05/21/2013 page1)