The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed a decision on the continued performance of its duties by the Sixth Legislative Council in Hong Kong on Tuesday, solving the "vacuum period" problem of postponing the Legislative Council election for one year.
As the chairman of the Legislative Council, Liang Junyan's term of office was also extended by one year accordingly. Liang Junyan emphasized in an exclusive interview with Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News reporter Qin Yue today (August 13) that the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is purely from the perspective of epidemic prevention and control, without political considerations, and all subsequent links will be smooth. He welcomed this.
Speaking of the Legislative Council sessions in the past four years, Liang Junyan said that after experiencing oath storm, amendment storm, parliamentarian Rab, etc., "it was indeed a storm." He described that every decision was difficult and you should be careful. However, he also said that the decision he made was destined not to make all members of parliament agree, and those who agreed may not applaud, but those who objected must be loud.
"I scolded me, and when I was an airbag, I had to accept it. But behind it, every decision I made has enough legal basis, and I am not afraid of any legal challenges."
Looking to the future, Liang Junyan believes that Hong Kong's economy and citizens' livelihood can no longer bear the chaos, and all parliamentarians have constitutional responsibility to perform their duties, put aside political differences, and work hard to do a good job in parliament.
"I hope everyone can make the best use of this year, not politicize things, implement and improve the people's livelihood economy."
Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News Reporter Qin Yue: The Standing Committee of the People's Congress decided to extend the sixth Legislative Council for one year. If you look back on the agenda of the first four years of the sixth session, what do you feel? What difficulties and challenges have you encountered?
Chairman of the Hong Kong Legislative Council Liang Junyan: In the past four years, the Legislative Council has experienced many unprecedented things, many of which have been seen for the first time, such as oath storm, disqualification of parliamentarians, and even deliberating on the "one place and two inspections", some members of parliament blocked the procedures. When the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance was launched, it not only prevented the review of the ordinance on a large scale, but also a large number of people occupied the Legislative Council for large-scale damage. You see, it has not been completely repaired yet.
Of course, in the last year, the fourth year of his term, non-establishment lawmaker Raab (deliberately delayed the deliberation process) and prevented the internal meeting from electing the chairman. After more than half a year, it hindered the operation of the Legislative Council, because many bills and affiliated bills were shelved because they could not hold meetings, resulting in Article 73 of the Basic Law regarding the functions of the Legislative Council to review bills and supervise the government. These are impossible.
For this case, I can only use a new method to deal with it. This new method is to seek senior legal opinions from outside and see how to use the powers granted to the Chairman in the Basic Law. Article 72 is about the possibility of parliament being able to operate, meeting, and let me set an agenda, etc. We have determined to use Article 92 of the Legislative Council Rules of Procedure. Article 92 of the Legislative Council. Article 92 means that if there is no precedent, the Chairman can refer to the practices of other different parliaments to determine how to deal with it. Generally speaking, the Chairman should not interfere with the operation of the Committee and give the Committee a freedom to handle its own affairs.
The House Committee is that all members of the House Committee except me are members. After such considerations, I decided to ask Chen Jianbo, Chairman of the Finance Committee, to preside over it, because the composition of Chen Jianbo's Finance Committee is exactly the same as that of the House Committee. He can solve the relevant difficulties by choosing the chairman of the Inner Council.
But in the face of various challenges, the only thing to do is to solve various problems based on the Rules of Procedure and the Basic Law. Of course, you said that these problems have been solved, and new problems have followed one after another. For example, in the end, the MPs "rab" and threw stinky items in the chamber. This is the first time, so it is indeed a storm. Of course, four years have passed, and now we have to face the decision made by the National People's Congress and postpone the Sixth Legislative Council for no less than one year, so we all need to explore what we can do in this new year.
Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News Reporter Qin Yue: You just mentioned citing Article 92 of the Legislative Council's Rules of Procedure to solve the issue of the election of the head and vice chairman of the Internal Committee, but there are also voices in the society who believe that the delay has been too long. Why did you decide to break the deadlock after seven months?
Chairman of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Liang Junyan: is actually like what I said just now. Generally speaking, the chairman will not handle the affairs of other committees and will hand them over to the committee to handle their respective affairs on their own. However, after so many months, it cannot be handled, which has affected the operation of the parliament. That is, the operation mentioned in Article 73 of the Basic Law cannot be operated, so I had to "start" to deal with it. Of course, it seems that the time has been delayed a bit long, but there is an epidemic in the middle, and the Legislative Council has been suspended for several weeks. I originally wanted to choose the meeting in March, but I couldn't choose it. It also takes time to find legal opinions outside. When we find legal opinions, we can make a decision.
Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News Reporter Qin Yue: I heard you say that this, I feel that these four years have not been easy. What is the most difficult decision you think is the decision you make?
Chairman of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Legislative Council Liang Junyan: Be careful in every decision. Which decision do you think is the hardest decision? I can't explain it either, but every decision must first be based on the Basic Law and Rules of Procedure. We have legal counsel, the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General, the Assistant Secretary-General, and others sit down to discuss it. Each decision also needs to refer to what the decision made by the Legislative Council was like before and will not deviate from the principles.
Can't say that I like or dislike the chairman today, so I can make a decision at will. Therefore, every decision is difficult and must be handled according to the reasons; and every decision is made public. It cannot be said that you will not hold a meeting without a meeting. You must explain clearly why you don’t hold a meeting, and the reasons must be made public.
You know that in Hong Kong, after every decision I make, different people try to challenge it with law. Currently, there are several cases in the court that are "challenging" my decision (judicial review). Therefore, every decision is as appropriate as possible, and every step is important. At the same time, every decision will be written into the record, and it must be inherited from the past and the future, because we must find the previous Legislative Council for reference on how this was handled, and it will also affect the future and future decisions of the Legislative Council Chairman. So be careful.
Why do you ask me which decision is the most difficult? Really, each one is difficult. But after each decision is made, I feel that it is still stable, otherwise others would have been challenging my decision. (Laughs)
Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News reporter Qin Yue: Looking at your previous interview, you said that after you became the chairman, you felt that you had become the "airbag" of the parliamentarian. Compared with the chairman and when you were a parliamentarian, do you feel that the gap is very big?
Chairman of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Legislative Council Leung: There is no . In fact, since I became the chairman of the Legislative Council, the decision I made was destined not to be endorsed by all members of parliament. may not applaud if they agree, but they must be loudly opposed. The Parliament is a stage, and behind each member, there are different voters and supporters.
There are many voters, some are suitable for this voter, but not necessarily for another voter. So I myself think different members have different views on my decision, and I accept it. I scolded me and thought I was an air vent bag, so I had to accept it. But behind this, every decision I make in has enough legal basis and I am not afraid of any legal challenges. But now Hong Kong is in a pan-political situation and your decision will not be supported by all members of parliament. As long as the decision I made is fair and just and has legal basis, I will be very satisfied.
Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News Reporter Qin Yue: The Standing Committee of the People's Congress made a concise decision on the vacuum period for postponing the election, and handed over the implementation details to the SAR government for handling. How did everyone discuss and formulate this?
Chairman of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Liang Junyan: The decisions of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress are also very simple, just for the epidemic.How to deal with the one-year vacuum caused by the Hong Kong government's request to postpone the election? The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress decided to extend the sixth Legislative Council for one year, which is that simple.
There were many speculations outside before, but now let these people see that The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress decided that there was no political consideration, but because of technical issues, we welcomed as soon as the decision came out, because it really solved the problems of this year: no political considerations, no oaths, no appointments, no signing paper, etc. I just say that this is equivalent to the third year to the fourth year, and now it is the fourth year to the fifth year. In this way, all links are smooth.
So I hope everyone can make the best use of this year, not politicize things, implement and improve the people's livelihood economy.
Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News Reporter Qin Yue: The National People's Congress decided to extend the sixth Legislative Council for one year. Do you have any goals this year?
Chairman of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Legislative Council Liang Junyan: First of all, I hope that everyone will take the interests of Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong as the basis, and let go of all differences, political opposition, etc. first. Because after several months of social turmoil and the epidemic in Hong Kong, I feel that Hong Kong's economy and citizens' livelihood have been fed up. I hope everyone can calm down and sit down, put politics aside, think about how to start the economy and people's livelihood again, do the interests of citizens, and do the work of this year well. Because the elected parliamentarians have his constitutional responsibility, they have also been oathed. On the one hand, they must be loyal to the Basic Law and be loyal to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, but at the same time they must serve the citizens. I hope everyone will let go of different opinions and focus on improving people's livelihood and economy.
Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News Reporter Qin Yue: This is everyone’s hope, but if there are still members of parliament or other actions that disrupt the parliament this year, are you prepared to deal with this?
Chairman of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Legislative Council Leung: Hong Kong legislation will have its Rules of Procedure, which will operate in accordance with the Basic Law. Of course, Rabbe is a matter that many local parliaments have, and they all want to express some dissatisfaction. I think the government also needs to play a role to see how to lobby different parliamentarians to support government policies, or listen to the views of different spectral members and try to achieve the greatest common divisor. Therefore, the opinions of different government departments and Hong Kong citizens need to be summarized and decided. How to solve the problems of people's livelihood and economics will also make the outside world feel confident in Hong Kong's future.
Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News Reporter Qin Yue: Now the pan-democratic congressman claims to initiate a "general remark", but there is still no conclusion on the discussion. Are you prepared for this?
Chairman of the Hong Kong Legislative Council Liang Junyan: The sixth Legislative Council has been in charge of four years. Now the decision of the National People's Congress is to continue working until the seventh Legislative Council. I think all members of parliament have a constitutional responsibility to perform their duties. I hope that everyone will continue to serve Hong Kong citizens based on the general environment and the current influence of Hong Kong.
Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News Reporter Qin Yue: In addition, the establishment party members called for a meeting as soon as possible today. Is there a timetable for this?
Chairman of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Legislative Council Liang Junyan: The government has not issued a gazette yet to cancel the suspension of the operation of the Legislative Council. I estimate that the government will issue the gazette soon, and the Legislative Council can resume operations by issuing the Gazette. According to previous years, the chairman of all committees can hold meetings. In the past, some affairs committees were held in the end of August and early September, and the financial committees will also be held if necessary. Usually the Chief Executive will designate the Legislative Council meeting on which day it will start. In the past, it will start in mid-October. Of course, if there are special matters that need legislation, the conference will be held. But generally speaking, the affairs committee and even the House Committee will meet faster if they need to deal with major matters such as the fight against the epidemic and matters that members of the parliament will be concerned about.
Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News Reporter Qin Yue: At the press conference on your term summary, a reporter asked you if you will do it for another four years by the seventh year. Now the National People's Congress has decided to extend the sixth year for one year. Do you think the responsibility is heavy? What plans do you have in the future?
Chairman of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Legislative Council Liang Junyan: When I was summarizing it, I did not make any decision at that time. After discussing with voters, family and the Pakatan Harapan, I signed up (sold for the 7th session), so I was ready to do it for four years. I was lucky, and no one competed with me as of the registration period (industrial industry). According to previous practice, I should be called self-elect, so if I make a decision, I will abide by the decision and continue to help Hong Kong and the Parliament.
Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News Reporter Qin Yue: Some people say that the Legislative Council, government and judicial organs in Hong Kong are " Separation of Three Powers ", but before, MP Ip said that Hong Kong has never been a "separation of Three Powers". As the chairman, what do you think of the role of the Hong Kong legislative organ?
Chairman of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Liang Junyan: In the Basic Law, there is actually no word that says "separation of powers". Of course, the Legislative Council acts independently, and the Basic Law also says that Hong Kong is an administratively dominated place, so how do you explain it? Everyone has their own opinions, but it is important to check and balance the administration and legislation and assist each other. In fact, we want to solve the problems of Hong Kong citizens and economic problems. Even if some people say "separation of powers" does not mean that these three powers are opposed, but that they only deal with them independently. Each institution has its own independent way to work together for society.
