While this would be first time they vote in favour of bill during CY Leung’s tenure, Democrats stop short of backing John Tsang in coming chief executive race
JEFFIE.LAM@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Thursday, 14 April, 2016, 4:38pm
Democratic Party lawmaker Wu Chi-wai (right) said Financial Secretary John Tsang (left) had adopted the right approach in addressing social conflicts in the city. Photos: Dickson Lee, K.Y. Cheng
The Democratic Party sent a strong political message on Thursday by offering its rare support to the latest budget by Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, whom they say knows better than the city’s chief how to mend Hong Kong’s deep-rooted conflicts.
This would be the first time the Democrats have voted for the appropriation bill since Leung Chun-ying took on the chief executive role in 2012.
Democrat lawmaker Wu Chi-wai said his party decided to back the budget after a thorough discussion because Tsang had made a considerable long-term investment and adopted the right approach in addressing social conflicts.
“The budget might not be perfect in terms of public policy, but at least it has taken the first step, such as allocating HK$200 billion [to] medical services,” he said.
“In portraying the rifts in the city, [Tsang], as the government No 2, also expressed his hope to ditch confrontation and locate the core of the problems, instead of putting all the blame on the so-called radicals ... [his approach] should be acknowledged in the political sense,” Wu added.
Party colleague Sin Chung-kai said: “People of Hong Kong are angry with what [Leung] has been doing – confronting different sectors of the society – while the financial secretary would like to heal the wounds.”
Acknowledging the political nature of their decision, the Democrats however stopped short of backing Tsang to contest the chief executive election next year.
“If the government has done something right and responded to our demands, as a party I think we should have the courage to support it under [this] political environment,” said Sin.
They also dismissed the comments made by some of their pro-establishment counterparts, who accused the party of driving a wedge between Leung and Tsang on purpose.
The pan-democrats are divided on whether to back the government blueprint.
On Wednesday, radical lawmakers from People Power and the League of Social Democrats vowed to stage a filibuster by submitting some 2,000 amendments against the “unfair” budget, which they claimed had neglected the needs of the city’s disadvantaged.
In his speech on Thursday morning, Labour Party lawmaker Dr Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung also lamented that the budget had failed to address the problem of income inequality.
The Civic Party has yet to take a stance.
The Democratic Party had said it would not join the filibuster.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1935953/democratic-party-backs-budget-plan-rare-show-support-hong
