6th Legislative Council of Hong Kong
The Sixth Legislative Council of Hong Kong is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. The term of the session was originally from 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2020, but was extended for no less than a year by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) until the commencement of the seventh Legislative Council.[1][2] The session consists of the new total of 70 seats in LegCo, with 35 members elected in geographical constituencies through geographical constituency direct elections, and 35 members in functional constituencies. The membership is based on the 2016 Legislative Council election.
| 6th Legislative Council of Hong Kong | |||
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| Overview | |||
| Legislative body | Legislative Council | ||
| Jurisdiction | Hong Kong | ||
| Meeting place | Legislative Council Complex | ||
| Term | 1 October 2016 – 30 September 2021 (planned) | ||
| Election | 2016 election | ||
| Government | Lam Administration | ||
| Website | Sixth Legislative Council (2016–2020) | ||
| Members | 70 members | ||
| President | Andrew Leung (BPA) | ||
| Party control | Pro-Beijing camp | ||
The pro-Beijing camp remained the majority of the legislature with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong as the largest party. The anti-establishment camp, including the traditional pan-democrats and newly emerging localists secured the majority in the geographical constituencies and the one-third crucial minority which allowed them veto any government's proposal on constitutional reform. Notable new members include the post-Occupy activists, Demosisto's Nathan Law, 23, being the youngest member to be elected and Youngspiration's Yau Wai-ching, 25, being the youngest woman to be elected. Other new members include Eddie Chu, Lau Siu-lai, Baggio Leung, Eunice Yung and Junius Ho.
An unprecedented oath-taking controversy broke out at the inauguration of the council. The Leung Chun-ying authorities asked the court to disqualify Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching after they inserted their own words into the oaths of office and mispronounced "China". The NPCSC controversially interpreted Article 104 of Hong Kong Basic Law, effectively adding retrospective regulations of the format of oath-taking of public offices in Hong Kong. After two Younspiration members were disqualified by the court, Leung's authorities pressed charges against Leung Kwok-hung, Nathan Law, Lau Siu-lai and Yiu Chung-yim, and the four pro-democracy members were disqualified as a result. This brought a historical low of pan-democrats' seats of the council, losing control of the geographical constituencies.
In mid 2020, the controversial Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 sparked an unprecedented intense clashes between the rival camps in the legislature and record scales of protests in June which later escalated into months-long anti-government protests. On 1 July 2019, hundreds of protesters stormed the Legislative Council Complex ransacked and vandalised the interior with anti-government slogans. Chief Executive Carrie Lam initially said she would "suspend" the proposed bill, finally promised to withdraw the bill after 13 weeks of protests on 4 September.[3][4]
On 17 December 2019, legislators Au Nok-hin and Gary Fan lost their seats after the Court of Final Appeal refused to hear their appeals on two separate rulings that rendered them not duly elected as the disqualified legislators were not given an opportunity to respond.[5] With the vacant seat left by Leung Kwok-hung who sought for legal appeals and the resignation of Ho Kai-ming for a government position, the vacant seats in the legislatures increased to four as of June 2020.
On 31 July 2020, the last day of the nomination period in the electoral process for the September Legislative Council election, Carrie Lam announced her invocation of the Emergency Regulations Ordinance to postpone the election for a whole year, citing the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, denying any political calculation to thwart opposition momentum and neutralise the pro-democracy movement.[6] On 11 August the NPCSC passed a decision to extend the incumbent 6th Legislative Council to extend its term for no less than one year, despite its contradiction to the four-year term limit stipulated in Article 69 of the Basic Law.[7][8]
On 11 November 2020, the NPCSC adopted a decision which bars Legislative Council member who supports Hong Kong independence, refuses to recognise Beijing's sovereignty over Hong Kong, seeks help from "foreign countries or foreign forces to interfere in the affairs of the region" or commits "other acts that endanger national security". As a result, four sitting legislators were disqualified with immediate effect. After the disqualification, the 15 remaining pro-democracy legislators announced their resignation, leaving the Legislative Council with a total number of 27 vacancies, adding to the previous disqualifications and resignations.[9]
Major events
2016–17
- 12 October 2016: In the first meeting of the session, all members took their oaths while three members, Youngspiration's Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching and pan-democrat Edward Yiu who inserted their own words into the official script had their oaths rejected by the Legislative Council Secretariat, but 11 others - four localist and seven pan-democratic - added their own wording either before or after taking the oath and face no repercussions. Leung and Yau were criticised for pronouncing China as "Chee-na", the derogatory pronunciation used during the Second Sino-Japanese War and mispronouncing "People’s Republic of China" as "people’s re-fucking of Chee-na". After the oaths, the second most senior member Leung Yiu-chung of the Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre chaired the election of the President of the Legislative Council. To protest the Legislative Council secretariat's decision to disallow the three members to enter the chamber, Leung gave up the role amid calls from his colleagues to postpone the election due to the dispute over the British nationality of the pro-Beijing nominee Andrew Leung of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA). Instead, Abraham Shek of the BPA who replaced Leung Yiu-chung pushed the election ahead. The pan-democrats and localists tore up their ballot papers and exited the meeting room before the vote. As a result, Andrew Leung received 38 votes against pro-democrat nominee James To's zero with three blank ballots.[10]
- 19 October 2016: In the second meeting of the session when five members retook their oaths, the pro-Beijing camp staged a walkout to force the meeting to be adjourned for the first time in the session to protest the two Youngspiration legislators refusal to apologise for their "insulting" oaths last week before Yau and Leung, as well as Lau Siu-lai were to retake their oaths.[11]
- 26 October 2016: In the third general meeting, Legislative Council President Andrew Leung adjourned the meeting after the three members, two Youngspiration legislators he disallowed from joining the meeting as he decided to delay their oath-retaking but were escorted by the pan-democracy legislators into the chamber, and Civic Passion's Cheng Chung-tai who shouted at Leung for his decision, refused to leave the chamber.
2018–19
- 6 May 2019: After a House Committee meeting with a pro-Beijing majority, voted to issue a set of guidelines to replace the most senior member James To of the Democratic Party with the third senior member Abraham Shek of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong to preside the Bills Committee of the controversial Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 after To was accused of filibustering. To claimed that the move was illegitimate, adding that the secretariat had abused its power in issuing the circular without having any formal discussion. The pro-democracy legislators insisted to go ahead with the 6 May meeting as planned, which was eventually rescheduled by Shek with only 20 members present.[12]
- 11 May 2019: A clash broke out as the pro-democracy and pro-Beijing camps called separate meetings of the Bills Committee of the controversial Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 at the same room. A number of legislators fell to the ground as they pushed and shoved each other along the packed hallway. Gary Fan fell to the ground after standing on a table, and appearing to have fainted before he was sent to hospital.[13]
- 12 June 2019: 12 June protest against the extradition bill outside the Legislative Council Complex. 40,000 protesters gathered outside the Government Headquarters attempted and successfully stalled the second reading of the bill, though the Police deployed numerous canisters of tear gas, rubber bullets and bean bag rounds to disperse the protesters. The government and the police characterised the protest as a "riot", marking it the most serious and intense conflict between the police and the protesters during the early stage of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.
- 1 July 2019: Storming of the Legislative Council Complex where hundreds of protesters broke through the glass walls and metal doors and entered the building, ransacked and vandalised the interior with anti-government slogans. It is considered a watershed event in the 2019–20 protests.
2019–20
- 18 May 2020: After a months-long filibustering by the pro-democrats on the election of the House Committee chair, President Andrew Leung invoked Article 92 of the Rule of Procedures to scrap the duties of Dennis Kwok, the former vice chair of the House Committee who had been presiding the meetings and replaced Chan Kin-por, chair of the Finance Committee who successfully presided the election after the pro-democrat legislators being expelled amid the clashes broke out between the pro-democrats and the security.
- 31 July 2020: Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the postponement of 2020 general election for a whole year.
- 11 August 2020: NPCSC passed a decision to extend the incumbent 6th Legislative Council to extend its term for no less than one year, all members of Legco can stay but two decided to resign in protest to the extension.
2020–21
- 11 November 2020: NPCSC passed a decision which led to the disqualification of four sitting legislators by Hong Kong Government, 15 remaining pro-democracy legislators announced their resignation on the same day, with the effective dates ranging from 11 November to 1 December. The Legco has now no effective opposition.
Major legislation
Enacted
- 14 June 2018: Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Co-location) Bill
- 12 June 2020: National Anthem Bill
Composition
| Date | Affiliation | Total | Vacant | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Localist | Pro-democracy | Non-aligned | Pro-Beijing | |||||
| End of previous LegCo | 1 | 26 | 1 | 42 | 70 | 0 | ||
| I | Begin (1 October 2016) | 6 | 23 | 1 | 40 | 70 | 0 | |
| 7 October 2016 | 3 | 26 | ||||||
| 15 November 2016 | 1 | 68 | 2 | |||||
| 14 July 2017 | 22 | 64 | 6 | |||||
| II | 11 March 2018 | 24 | 42 | 68 | 2 | |||
| III | 25 November 2018 | 43 | 69 | 1 | ||||
| IV | 17 December 2019 | 22 | 67 | 3 | ||||
| 1 June 2020 | 42 | 66 | 4 | |||||
| 18 September 2020 | 41 | 65 | 5 | |||||
| 30 September 2020 | 19 | 62 | 8 | |||||
| V | 11 November 2020 | 15 | 58 | 12 | ||||
| 13 November 2020 | 13 | 56 | 14 | |||||
| 1 December 2020 | 0 | 43 | 27 | |||||
As of 1 December 2020:
| Affiliation | Election | Current | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong | 12 | 13 | ||
| Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong | 7 | 8 | ||
| Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions | 5 | 4 | ||
| Liberal Party | 4 | 4 | ||
| New People's Party | 3 | 2 | ||
| Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions | 1 | 1 | ||
| New Century Forum | 1 | 1 | ||
| Roundtable | 0 | 1 | ||
| Independent | 7 | 7 | ||
| Total for pro-Beijing camp | 40 | 41 | ||
| Democratic Party | 7 | 0 | ||
| Civic Party | 6 | 0 | ||
| Professional Commons | 2 | 0 | ||
| People Power | 1 | 0 | ||
| League of Social Democrats | 1 | 0 | ||
| Labour Party | 1 | 0 | ||
| Demosistō | 1 | 0 | ||
| Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre | 1 | 0 | ||
| Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union | 1 | 0 | ||
| HK First | 0 | 0# | ||
| Neo Democrats | 0 | 0* | ||
| Independent | 5 | 0 | ||
| Total for pro-democracy camp | 26 | 0 | ||
| Civic Passion | 1 | 1 | ||
| Youngspiration | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total for localist groups | 3 | 1 | ||
| Non-aligned independent | 1 | 1 | ||
| Vacant | 0 | 27 | ||
| Total | 70 | 43 | ||
* The Neo Democrats won one seat in the New Territories East by-election, but lost it after a court declared Gary Fan not duly elected.
# Resigned en masse with pro-democracy camp.
Graphical representation of the Legislative Council
Current Legislative Council of Hong Kong seat composition by party.
|
Localist (1) Non-aligned others (1) Vacant (27) Vacant (27) |
Pro-Beijing (41) |
Leadership
| Office | Party | Officer | Constituency | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | BPA |  |
Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen | Industrial (First) | 12 October 2016 |
| Secretary General | N/A | Kenneth Chen Wei-on | N/A | 29 September 2012 | |
List of members
The following table is a list of LegCo members elected on 4 September 2016 in the order of precedence.
Members who did not serve throughout the term are italicised. New members elected since the general election are noted at the bottom of the page.
Key to changes since legislative election:
- a = change in party allegiance
- b = by-election
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Supplementary members
| GC/ FC |
Constituency | Portrait | Elected Members | Elected Party | Born | Occupation(s) | Alma Mater | Assumed office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | New Territories East |  |
Gary Fan[lower-alpha 9] | Neo Democrats | 30 October 1966 | Legislative Councillor District Councillor |
Academy of Art University (BFA) San Francisco State University (MA) |
2018 (b) | |
| GC | Hong Kong Island |  |
Au Nok-hin[lower-alpha 9] | Independent | 18 June 1987 | Legislative Councillor District Councillor |
Chinese University of Hong Kong (BSS, MPhil) | 2018 (b) | |
| GC | Kowloon West | .jpg.webp) |
Vincent Cheng | DAB | 18 July 1979 | Legislative Councillor District Councillor |
University of Auckland (BS) | 2018 (b) | |
| FC | Architectural, Surveying, Planning and Landscape |  |
Tony Tse | Independent | 27 October 1954 | Surveyor | Hong Kong Polytechnic (HD) | 2018 (b) | |
| GC | Kowloon West | .jpg.webp) |
Chan Hoi-yan[lower-alpha 10] | Independent | 19 November 1977 | Legislative Councillor | Hong Kong Baptist University (BSS) | 2018 (b) | |
By-elections
- 11 March 2018, by-election for Hong Kong Island, Kowloon West, New Territories East and Architectural, Surveying, Planning and Landscape. Au Nok-hin (Independent democrat), Vincent Cheng (DAB), Gary Fan (Neo Democrats), and Tony Tse (pro-Beijing independent) were the winners in the respective constituencies.
- 25 November 2018 by-election for Kowloon West. Chan Hoi-yan (nonpartisan, supported by the pro-Beijing camp) was elected to replace independent democrat Lau Siu-lai after she was disqualified in the oath-taking controversy.
Other changes
2016
- Claudia Mo (Kowloon West) announced her resignation from the Civic Party and served under the label of "HK First" on 14 November.[14]
2017
- Michael Tien (New Territories West) announced his resignation from the New People's Party on 10 April and formed his own political group Roundtable.[15]
2018
- Jimmy Ng (Industrial (Second)) joined the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA).[16]
Committees
- House Committee— Chair: Starry Lee
- Parliamentary Liaison Subcommittee— Chair: Ip Kin-yuen
- Finance Committee— Chair: Chan Kin-por
- Establishment Subcommittee— Chair: Regina Ip (2016–19), Holden Chow (2019–20)
- Public Works Subcommittee— Chair: Lo Wai-kwok
- Public Accounts Committee— Chair: Abraham Shek
- Committee on Members' Interests— Chair: Yiu Si-wing
- Committee on Rules of Procedure— Chair: Paul Tse
Panels
- Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services— Chair: Priscilla Leung
- Panel on Commerce and Industry— Chair: Wu Chi-wai (2016–18), Yiu Si-wing (2018–19), Ng Wing-ka (2019–20)
- Panel on Constitutional Affairs— Chair: Martin Liao (2016–18), Cheung Kwok-kwan (2018–20)
- Panel on Development— Chair: Tommy Cheung (2016–18), Leung Che-cheung (2018–19), Tony Tse (2019–20)
- Panel on Economic Development— Chair: Jeffrey Lam (2016–18), Chung Kwok-pan (2018–20)
- Panel on Education— Chair: Ann Chiang (2016–18), Ip Kin-yuen (2018–19), Regina Ip (2019–20)
- Panel on Environmental Affairs— Chair: Tanya Chan (2016–18), Junius Ho (2018–20)
- Panel on Financial Affairs— Chair: Christopher Cheung (2016–17; 2018–20), Kenneth Leung (2017–18)
- Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene— Chair: Helena Wong (2016–17), Steven Ho (2017–18), Kwok Ka-ki (2018–19), Tommy Cheung (2019–20)
- Panel on Health Services— Chair: Joseph Lee (2016–18), Pierre Chan (2018–19), Ann Chiang (2019–20)
- Panel on Home Affairs— Chair: Ma Fung-kwok (2016–18), Kwok Wai-keung (2018–19), Lau Kwok-fan (2019–20)
- Panel on Housing— Chair: Alice Mak (2016–18), Wilson Or (2018–20)
- Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting— Chair: Elizabeth Quat (2016–17; 2018–19), Charles Mok (2017–18; 2019–20)
- Panel on Manpower— Chair: Leung Yiu-chung (2016–17), Kwok Wai-keung (2017–18), Fernando Cheung (2016–18)
- Panel on Public Service— Chair: Kwok Wai-keung (2016–17), Poon Siu-ping (2017–18), Gary Fan (2018–19), Ho Kai-ming (2019–20), Vincent Cheng (2020)
- Panel on Security— Chair: Chan Hak-kan
- Panel on Transport— Chair: Chan Han-pan (2016–17; 2018–19), Frankie Yick (2017–18; 2019–20)
- Panel on Welfare Services— Chair: Shiu Ka-chun (2016–18), Kwong Chun-yu (2018–20)
See also
Notes
- Resigned on 12 November 2020 in protest to the 11 November disqualifications of four pro-democracy members.
- Disqualified on 14 July 2017 over oath-taking controversy.
- Resigned on 12 November 2020 in protest to the 11 November disqualifications of four pro-democracy members, with effective on 13 November.
- Resigned on 30 September 2020 in protest to the postponement of the 2020 Legislative Council election.
- Disqualified on 11 November 2020 by the NPCSC decision for "endangering national security".
- Resigned on 1 June 2020 to take the place of Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare.
- Resigned on 30 September 2020 over health issue.
- Disqualified on 15 November 2016 over oath-taking controversy.
- Disqualified on 17 December 2019 as the result of the March 2018 Legislative Council by-election was ruled as invalid.
- Disqualified on 18 September 2020 as the result of the November 2018 Kowloon West by-election was ruled as invalid.
References
- "Beijing extends Hong Kong's Legislative Council term by 'at least one year' but kicks ball back to Carrie Lam to decide how disqualified lawmakers can continue their duties". South China Morning Post. 2020-08-11.
- "Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Chapter 1)--Revocation of the Decision to Prorogue the Sixth Term of the Legislative Council" (PDF). The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Gazette. 2020-08-14.
- "Hong Kong leader withdraws extradition bill, sets up platform to examine protest causes". South China Morning Post. 4 September 2019. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
- "As it happened: Protesters call bill withdrawal 'band-aid on rotting flesh'". South China Morning Post. 4 September 2019. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- "Pro-democracy lawmakers Au Nok-hin and Gary Fan lose seats as Hong Kong's top court rejects election petition appeals". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
- "BREAKING: Hong Kong postpones legislative election citing Covid-19". Hong Kong Free Press. 31 July 2020.
- "Beijing decides current Hong Kong lawmakers can remain on until postponed election". Hong Kong Free Press. 11 August 2020.
- Lindberg, Kari; Lung, Natalie (2020-08-11). "China Extends Term of Hong Kong Lawmakers by a Year, Reports Say". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
- "Hong Kong's pro-democracy legislators to resign en masse". Aljazeera. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- "Andrew Leung becomes president of Hong Kong Legco after dispute over British nationality". South China Morning Post. 12 October 2016.
- "19 minutes of chaos: Legco president calls pro-establishment camp walkout 'unfortunate', plans new oaths for localists". South China Morning Post. 19 October 2016.
- "Democrats decry 'coup' as pro-Beijing lawmaker seeks to take over vetting of China extradition bill". Hong Kong Free Press. 6 May 2019.
- "Hong Kong government condemns 'disorderly and uncontrollable conditions' after Legco chaos halts meeting of committee reviewing extradition bill". South China Morning Post. 11 May 2019.
- "Hong Kong lawmaker Claudia Mo resigns from Civic Party citing 'differences' over localism and other issues". South China Morning Post. 14 November 2016.
- "【新民黨分裂】直播田北辰宣佈退黨：因了解而分開". Apple Daily. 14 November 2016.
- "政Whats噏：吳永嘉入工商界政黨 一餐飯決定". on.cc. 2018-12-22.