China News Agency, Hong Kong, May 8 (Reporter Han Xingtong) The House Committee (House) of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been suspended by the opposition for more than half a year, seriously affecting the operation of the Legislative Council and fulfilling its constitutional functions. Another special session originally scheduled to be held at 2:30 pm on the 8th will be chaired by the current chairman of the internal conference, Li Huiqiong, to deal with the backlog of internal conferences. However, due to obstruction by opposition MPs, the meeting was delayed by about 2 hours, and eventually all opposition MPs were expelled from the conference hall.
After the start of the Hong Kong Legislative Council session in 2019-2020, the current chairman of the in-house committee, Li Huiqiong, is re-elected. Therefore, the election of the new chairman will be chaired by Legislator Guo Rongkeng. However, the election of the internal conference was delayed for 6 months and still could not be completed. A few days ago, when the chairman of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, Leung Jun-yan, met with the media, he quoted senior outside counsel as saying that before the new chairman is elected, the current chairman of the House Committee has general powers to handle the affairs of the House Committee.
At 10 am on the 8th, the internal meeting held again failed to elect a new chairman. The current chairman of the internal conference, Li Huiqiong, was originally scheduled to hold another special session at 2:30 pm to handle the backlog of internal conferences.
At 1:15 p.m., Li Huiqiong took the chair early and was surrounded and accused by opposition MPs. During this time, opposition MPs once took up their seats, intending to occupy the rostrum, and were blocked by the security and formed MPs present.
At 2:30 in the afternoon, Li Huiqiong announced that the meeting had a sufficient quorum. She reiterated that according to the "Rules of Procedure" and "House Rules", she has the right to preside over meetings. But the opposition MPs continued to use the loudspeakers to chant slogans and tried several times to rush towards the podium. At 3:15 p.m., Li Huiqiong announced that the meeting would be suspended for 5 minutes to allow ambulance personnel to deal with the wounded, and called on all the lawmakers to remain calm.
Afterwards, Li Huiqiong expelled all opposition MPs from the conference hall, presided over the meeting according to the agenda, including the establishment of a bill committee, etc., and declared the meeting closed at about 6 pm. She said that in the future, she will continue to chair meetings, deal with urgent or important matters, and make prudent decisions. (Finish)}