Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen has expressed disappointment that the debate on the non-binding motion on the co-location arrangement for the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link could not be completed in today's Legislative Council meeting.
The discussion was stalled by legislator Eddie Chu's move to prevent the press and the public from attending the LegCo meeting, based on rule 88(1) of the council's Rules of Procedure.
Mr Yuen said the co-location motion showed the Government's respect for legislators' right to discuss matters of public interest, which is a provision in Basic Law Article 73(6).
"Regrettably and to our great disappointment, we have seen over the past two weeks, ever since last Wednesday, that certain members of LegCo have been using all sorts of means to delay the proper progress of this motion. And in a way, I would venture to suggest that certain gestures on their part amounted to clear abuse of the legislative procedures."
Noting the council will continue the debate on November 15, Mr Yuen said the Government will strive to have the motion passed.
On the three-step process to implement the co-location arrangement, he said the Government plans to complete the first two steps by the end of this year and start the third step early next year.
