Changes in the Legislative Council’s order of business can be made to prevent the two Youngspiration lawmakers from taking their oaths again, lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yi has said.
In order to prioritise a motion to debate whether the LegCo president has discretionary power to allow the Youngspiration duo to be sworn in again, the pro-Beijing camp can propose a request to suspend the order of business in LegCo as stated in Article 18 of the Rules of Procedure, lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yi said on Sunday.
Article 18 states the standard order of business in LegCo meetings, unless stated otherwise. The first order of business is the administration of oath or affirmation, as stated in the first article.
Last Wednesday, the pro-establishment camp staged a walk out from the LegCo chamber before the Youngspiration politicians could retake their oaths. They deprived the chamber of a quorum which led to the adjournment of the meeting. The camp threatened to use other methods to stop the two from being sworn into LegCo.
Ip, a lawmaker in the pro-establishment New People’s Party, said that pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu sought legal advice. His adviser said the president of LegCo has no discretionary power to allow Sixtus Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching of Youngspiration to retake their oaths.
She and another pro-Beijing lawmaker, Martin Liao Cheung-kong, were also given similar advice, according to Ip.
Ip told the media that “the pro-establishment parties have already written to the president requesting him not to let the oath taking go forward.”
Should the president disregard their request, the pro-establishment parties could move a motion to debate whether the LegCo president has discretionary power to allow oaths to be retaken. “We have every entitlement to move such a motion,” Ip said.
