Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang adjourned the meeting at 1:13 p.m. Photo: RTHK
The second reading in the Legislative Council of the controversial Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 was called off Wednesday after lawmakers failed to form a quorum, public broadcaster RTHK reported.
Civic Party legislator Kenneth Chan Ka-lok requested a count of the number of lawmakers in the chamber while oral questions were still being asked on the Innovation and Technology Bureau, an earlier item on the agenda.
Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing had to adjourn the meeting at 1:13 p.m., as fewer than the 35 lawmakers required to form a quorum were present.
Only 29 were counted during the 15-minute roll call.
Tsang later told the media five roll calls had been requested during the short-lived meeting, which began at 11 a.m.
Almost half the meeting, about 65 minutes, was spent trying to confirm a quorum existed.
In the end, only three out of six oral questions were covered.
Tsang said it is the responsibility of lawmakers to attend Legco meetings and he wouldn’t like to have to adjourn another meeting.
Charles Mok, the lawmaker representing the information technology sector, said he didn’t foresee the adjournment.
However, since it had already happened, he urged the government to consider including amendments proposed by the Democratic Party aimed at protecting the fair use of copyrighted material.
The second reading of the bill is now postponed to Wednesday next week.
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