A pan-democratic lawmaker has refused to apologise for comments he made last week claiming to have been offered $100 million to support the political reform package to be voted on later this week.
Leung Kwok-hung, a member of the League of Social Democrats, said during a radio show at the Hong Kong Commercial Radio this morning that $100 million was only an “approximate number”, and insisted he did not mislead the public.
Pan-democratic legislator Leung Kwok-hung (Cantonese)
The controversy began when Leung, also known as “Long Hair” told the press last week that “a middleman” approached him in February and offered him $100 million to support the political reform package. Leung’s allegation was questioned by the Chief Executive, CY Leung, who said that Leung should report the case to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
Leung subsequently told media on Sunday that he “made up” the $100 million price tag. Leung defended himself by saying that a middleman did approach him in February, and that the middleman would offer him an amount adequate for him to spend for “two lives”.
He also said that he “made up” the $100 million because it would “make it easier for journalists to report the story”.
Leung also defended his decision of not reporting to the ICAC by saying that he did not know the individual personally or retain any contact information. He said that he only met the middleman for about five minutes, and that he told the middleman not to approach him again.
The Chair of pro-Beijing group Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong Starry Lee criticized Leung for being “irresponsible”, saying that “the incident may have a negative effect on the [Hong Kong] government and Central Government.”
Leung was one of the founding members of the League of Social Democrats, a pan-democratic party that promised to vote down the reform package bill proposed by the Hong Kong Government. He has represented New Territories East in the Legislative Council since 2004. He also participated actively in the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement protests last year.
