Law calls for meetings between political parties
Updated: 2015-07-04 08:34
By Joseph Li in Hong Kong(HK Edition)
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Executive Councilor Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun has said government officials should call meetings with representatives from all political parties to discuss key policies.
Speaking to China Daily, she suggests they discuss important issues such as housing and land policies to seek support from these parties. Law said such meetings could generate a broader consensus - instead of partisan or district interests.
She also suggests appointing young people to sit on advisory bodies to let them better understand the government position.
Law urged the opposition camp to immediately stop filibustering maneuvers in the legislature.
She said now that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying had offered lawmakers an olive branch the opposition should stop filibustering. Law said she was sure Hong Kong people could see what these lawmakers were doing.
In the post-reform era, the government said it will focus on economic development and people's livelihoods.
Law said Leung had shown genuine goodwill by rescheduling livelihood-related items to the top of the agenda of the Legislative Council Finance Committee. This was ahead of the funding proposal for the new Innovation and Technology Bureau (ITB). He had also asked to meet political parties from the opposition camp, she noted.
However, only six items were approved at the Finance Committee meetings on June 26 and July 3. This sparked concerns that the other items would not be passed in the remaining meeting of this legislative session.
Law, who is also chairwoman of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, is very concerned about the fate of the ITB. This is because apart from promoting technology, it can encourage economic diversity and also create jobs.
"The opposition has not responded positively to the CE's good intentions. I advise them not to go to extremes and stop filibustering," she said.
"The civil servants who attend the Finance Committee meetings feel very frustrated sitting there all day long without seeing any progress," Law said.
"This will hurt their morale and prompt them to leave the government. This will harm effective governance and Hong Kong as a whole."
She rejected allegations that the ITB proposal was "jumping the queue". Law also dismissed suggestions the appointment of Nicholas Yang Wei-hsiung as bureau chief was a "political reward".
"The set-up was approved by the LegCo plenary meeting last year before the financial secretary announced a range of relief measures," she contended.
"Nichols Yang is not a Leung follower - having never campaigned for him. Even if he was, what is wrong with that, knowing he is a very capable person who has a brilliant CV in the information technology area?
"I hope funding is allowed before the summer recess so that the ITB can start work as quickly as possible."
joseph@chinadailyhk.com
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Executive Councilor Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun suggested the government call meetings with all parties to encourage a consensus on policy issues. This will help to boost the economy and improve people's livelihoods in Hong Kong. Parker Zheng / China Daily |
(HK Edition 07/04/2015 page6)