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The legislature's credibility and image has been restored among the public, Legislative Council (LegCo) President Rita Fan said yesterday, and hoped the Chief Executive (CE) would respect and hold more talks with the lawmakers to improve the tense executive-legislature ties.
Summarizing the first session of LegCo's four-year term that closed last week, Fan said people were feeling more confident about LegCo since the chamber's regular session was aborted in January.
"LegCo's credibility has bounced back as various public opinion polls have revealed that public confidence in the legislature has been restored," Fan said.
Several political parties in LegCo have realized the necessity to work together to allow motions, particularly those on public livelihoods, to be passed and prompt the government to improve people's lives and strengthen governance.
An example of that, she said, was the support of several political parties, including the Federation of Trade Unions and Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, to Andrew Cheng's motion last week that urged the government to introduce a telephone and online appointment system to save the elderly patients the trouble of waiting for hours in government outpatient clinics.
But she criticized the government for not respecting lawmakers, saying it had broken its promise of informing them before approving the Eastern Harbour Tunnel toll hike.
She said since CE Donald Tsang and Chief Secretary for Administration Rafael Hui, who had served as secretary for financial services and LegCo deputy secretary-general, were familiar with the chamber's functioning, they might help build a solid foundation both for the executive and legislature and improve the ties between them.
The LegCo president said she would continue to adhere to Rules of Procedure to cope with maverick lawmakers breaching the chamber's regulations. She ordered lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung at least thrice to leave the chamber for misconduct. The last time Leung was ousted from the chamber was last month, after he waved a placard lampooning Tsang during his first question-and-answer session in LegCo.
Responding to allegations that LegCo had been less productive in scrutinizing bills this year, Fan said lawmakers had the responsibility to check them carefully. LegCo should not be blamed because the government tabled a lot more bills than usual till January this year.
And usually, LegCo passes fewer bills during the first session of its four-year term, she said.
The government introduced 34 bills in the first session but only 20 had been passed, compared to 37 during the 2003-2004 legislative session. LegCo will scrutinize the remaining 18 bills during the next session.
Fifty-nine motions moved by lawmakers were debated during this Legislative Council session, when 609 questions were asked, 155 of which were oral and 454, written.
(China Daily HK Edition July 12, 2005)
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