TONY CHEUNG AND JOYCE NG
PUBLISHED : Friday, 11 September, 2015, 12:00am
UPDATED : Friday, 11 September, 2015, 12:00am
Tommy Cheung Yu-yan confirmed he would seek the chairmanship of the Legislative Council's House Committee. Photo: Nora Tam
The Liberal Party has told Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong that one of its lawmakers is fighting for the chairmanship of a key committee because it "could help with the city's governance", a party insider says.
Tommy Cheung Yu-yan confirmed on Thursday that he would seek the chairmanship of the Legislative Council's House Committee when the new legislative year begins next month. Cheung chaired Legco's Finance Committee last year.
The House Committee job is considered the second most powerful in Legco behind that of president, as the body sets the legislature's agenda. The incumbent is former Liberal Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, of the Business and Professionals Alliance.
Political commentators questioned whether Cheung's candidacy would deepen a rift within the pro-establishment camp, but a Liberal Party source was not concerned.
Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen"Cheung has a better relationship with the pan-democrats … Do you think that the pro-establishment camp was not tired of the pan-democrats' frequent filibustering in Legco?" the insider asked.
"We explained to the liaison office that [Cheung's bid] was meant to help the government", but the liaison office did not say whether it would support Leung or Cheung, the source added.
The insider suggested the party was confident it had "enough votes" to defeat Leung.
Announcing his move, Cheung said he did not think the plan would split the camp. He felt he had done a good job leading the Finance Committee and maintained a good relationship with pan-democrats. He had not had a chance to speak to Leung.
Wong Kwok-hing, of the Federation of Trade Unions, said he was "surprised" by Cheung's plan and saw "no need to change" as Leung had performed well. But Cyd Ho Sau-lan, convenor of a weekly meeting of 23 pan-democratic lawmakers, said she was pleased to see competition for the job within the pro-establishment camp.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1857033/hong-kongs-liberal-party-challenges-key-job-legislature
