Provisional Legislative Council

PLC Paper No. 65/96-97

Ref : PLC/C/3

Minutes of the Meeting of the Provisional Legislative Council
held on Saturday 22 February 1997 at 9:00 am

 

Members present:

President
The Honourable Mrs Rita FAN

The Honourable WONG Siu-yee

The Honourable TIEN Pei-chun, James

The Honourable CHU Yu-lin, David

The Honourable HO Sai-chu

The Honourable HO Sing-tin, Edward

Dr the Honourable HO Chung-tai

The Honourable NG Leung-sing

The Honourable NG Ching-fai

The Honourable LI Ka-cheung, Eric

The Honourable LEE Kai-ming

The Honourable LEE Peng-fei, Allen

The Honourable Mrs TU, Elsie

The Honourable Mrs CHOW LIANG Shuk-yee, Selina

The Honourable Mrs LAM, Peggy

The Honourable WU, Henry

The Honourable NGAI Shiu-kit

The Honourable TANG Ying-yen, Henry

The Honourable YUEN Mo

The Honourable MA Fung-kwok

The Honourable CHEUNG Hon-chung

The Honourable Mrs TSO WONG Man-yin

The Honourable LEUNG Chun-ying

Dr the Honourable LEONG Che-hung

The Honourable Mrs LEUNG LAU Yau-fan, Sophie

The Honourable MOK Ying-fan

The Honourable HUI Yin-fat

The Honourable CHAN Choi-hi

The Honourable CHAN Yuen-han

The Honourable CHAN Wing-chan

The Honourable CHAN Kam-lam

The Honourable TSANG Yok-sing

The Honourable CHENG Kai-nam

The Honourable FUNG Kin-kee, Frederick

The Honourable WONG Wang-fat, Andrew

The Honourable WONG Yu-hong, Philip

The Honourable WONG Ying-ho, Kennedy

The Honourable YEUNG Chun-kam

The Honourable YEUNG Yiu-chung

The Honourable IP Kwok-him

The Honourable CHIM Pui-chung

The Honourable LIU Sing-lee, Bruce

The Honourable LAU Kong-wah

The Honourable LAU Wong-fat

The Honourable Mrs LAU Kin-yee, Miriam

The Honourable LAU Hon-chuen, Ambrose

The Honourable CHOY Kan-pui

The Honourable CHENG Ming-fun, Paul

The Honourable CHENG Yiu-tong

Dr the Honourable TANG Siu-tong

The Honourable FOK, Timothy

The Honourable KAN Fook-yee

The Honourable NGAN Kam-chuen

The Honourable LO Suk-ching

The Honourable LAW Cheung-kwok

The Honourable TAM Wai-chu, Maria

The Honourable TAM Yiu-chung


Members absent:

The Honourable LI Kwok-po, David

The Honourabke ARCULLI, Ronald

The Honourable YOUNG, Howard


Clerk in attendance:

Ms NG Man-wah, Pauline, Clerk to the Provisional Legislative Council


Obituary Tribute to the late DENG Xiaoping

The Council observed three minutes' silence as a token of respect for the late DENG Xiaoping.

The President addressed the Council in paying tribute to the late DENG Xiaoping.

Papers

Before speaking on the papers presented to the Council, the President advised the Council that in the absence of an agreed set of rules of procedures for the Council, she would apply the following rules for this meeting: that the quorum for the meeting would be one-half of the Members of the Council; that she would allow short questions from Members for the purpose of elucidating matters in relation to the papers presented under Item II but no debate would be allowed; that on each of the four motions under Item III, Members could seek elucidation and the mover of the motion would be invited to respond immediately, or Members could express opinions on the resolutions and the mover of the motion would reply after all Members had spoken; that all voting would be done by a show of hands and the President would give a casting vote in the case of a tie and the casting vote would be guided by the principle of keeping the issue open for future discussion.

The following papers were presented to the Council:

1. President's report: Interim Administrative Arrangements for Servicing the Provisional Legislative Council

2. President's report: Setting-up of Working Groups to Consider Administrative and Procedural Matters

When inviting Mr WONG Siu-yee to move his motion on the setting-up of the Working Group on Administrative Matters, Mr FUNG Kin-kee asked if Members could raise questions on the President's reports. Ms CHAN Yuen-han also echoed this point. The President clarified that she had already advised Members at the start of the meeting that Members could seek elucidation on matters relating to the reports. Since no one raised his hand when she paused after addressing the Council on the two reports, she had to proceed to the next item of business. She then sought Mr WONG Siu-yee's agreement to defer moving his motion and invited Members to indicate if they wished to seek elucidation on the content of the reports.

Five Members asked questions and the President responded.


Motions

Resolution on the setting-up of the Working Group on Administrative Matters

Mr WONG Siu-yee moved the following resolution:

"That a Working Group on Administrative Matters shall be set up with the following members:

Hon WONG Siu-yee
Hon James TIEN Pei-chun
Hon Mrs Peggy LAM
Hon MA Fung-kwok
Hon MOK Ying-fan
Hon NGAI Shiu-kit
Dr Hon LEONG Che-hung
Hon IP Kwok-him
Hon YEUNG Yiu-chung
Hon Paul CHENG Ming-fun
Hon TANG Siu-tong
Hon LAU Kong-wah

who shall elect a Convenor and Deputy Convenor from among themselves and that the Working Group shall be authorised to determine, subject to any rules of procedure of the Council, its own practice and procedure and shall propose as soon as practicable the terms of reference of the Working Group to the Council for approval."

Question on Mr WONG Siu-yee's motion proposed.

Question on Mr WONG Siu-yee's motion put. The President asked Members to indicate by a show of hands in the order of whether they were in favour of, against or in absention of the motion. All 56 Members voted in favour; no Member voted against or in abstention. The President declared that that Mr WONG Siu-yee's motion was agreed.

Resolution on the setting-up of the Working Group on Rules of Procedure

Mr James TIEN moved the following resolution:

"That a Working Group on Rules of Procedure shall be set up with the following members :

Hon Mrs Elsie TU
Hon HO Chung-tai
Hon Mrs Selina CHOW
Hon Dominic CHAN
Hon CHAN Yuen-han
Hon Andrew WONG Wang-fat
Hon Kennedy WONG Ying-ho
Hon CHENG Kai-nam
Hon Bruce LIU Sing-lee
Hon Mrs Miriam LAU Kin-yee
Hon Ambrose LAU Hon-chuen
Hon Maria TAM Wai-chu

who shall elect a Convenor and Deputy Convenor from among themselves and that the Working Group shall be authorised to determine, subject to any rules of procedure of the Council, its own practice and procedure and shall propose as soon as practicable the terms of reference of the Working Group to the Council for approval."

 

Question on Mr James TIEN's motion proposed.

Mr FUNG Kin-kee asked if the practice and procedure determined by the Working Group for its own use would also apply to other committees of the Council. Mr James TIEN confirmed that the procedure would only apply to the Working Group.


Question on Mr James TIEN's motion put. The President asked Members to indicate by a show of hands in the order of whether they were in favour of, against, and in abstention of the motion. All 56 Members voted in favour of the motion; no Member voted against or in abstention. The President declared that Mr James TIEN's motion was carried.

The President suspended the meeting at 9:40 a.m.

The Council resumed at 11:25 a.m.

Resolution on the terms of reference of the Working Group on Administrative Matters

The President invited Mr IP Kwok-him, the newly elected Convenor of the Working Group on Administrative Matters, to move the motion.

Mr IP Kwok-him moved the following motion:

(Translation)

" That the Working Group should be responsible to the Provisional Legislative Council regarding the following matters; and should conduct reviews at appropriate times and report periodically to the Provisional Legislative Council:

(a)to provide administration support and services through a Secretariat to the Provisional Legislative Council (the Council), including the staffing structure, terms of employment, office accommodation and other administrative arrangements pertaining to the smooth functioning of the Council and its committees/working groups;

(b)to monitor the operation of the Secretariat;

(c)to oversee the domestic arrangements for meetings of the Council and its committees/working groups;

(d)to deliberate on matters relating to the registration of Members' interests, honorarium and allowances for Members, services to Members and other administrative arrangements to facilitate the work of members, and to make recommendations to the Council on such matters; and

(e)to perform such other duties as the Council may by resolution determine."

Question on Mr IP Kwok-him's motion proposed.

14 Members spoke on the motion.

Mr IP Kwok-him moved to amend his original motion as follows:

" (translation) To remove "and should conduct reviews at appropriate times and report periodically to the Provisional Legislative Council." and place this phrase at the end of the resolution, after "may by resolution determine."; change (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) to (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5); change "the Provisional Legislative Council" under item (a) (retitled (1)) to "the Council"; delete the first word under item (c) (retitled item (3)) and insert "ºÊ¹î¦³Ãö" to reflect the meaning of "to oversee"; change the word "registration" under item (d) (retitled item (4) to "declaration"; and change the word "ÂÇ" under item (e) (retitled item (5)) to "¥H".

Three Members spoke on the amended motion.

In response to a Member's request, Mr IP Kwok-him withdrew his motion and the subsequent amendments, and asked the Council to take note of the scope of the work of the Working Group on Administrative Matters as outlined in the proposed terms of reference so that the Working Group would be able to proceed with its work. He also advised the Council that the terms of reference would be put to the Council for its endorsement at the next meeting of the Council after the wording had been refined based on the views expressed by Members.

In response to a Member's request, the President allowed Mr IP to give an account of the decisions made by the Working Group at its meeting held during the adjournment of the Council meeting.

One Member raised question to seek elucidation on Mr IP's report.

Resolution on the terms of reference of the Working Group on Rules of Procedure

The President invited Mrs Selina CHOW, the newly elected Convenor of the Working Group on Rules of Procedure, to move her motion.


Mrs Selina CHOW moved the following motion:

"(a)to deliberate and propose to the Council for its endorsement the rules of procedures to be adopted for the Council and its committees/working groups

(b)to study and/or review the committee system of the Council at various stages of its work and make recommendations to the Council;

(c)to formulate internal practices for adoption by the Council and its committees/working groups in the conduct of business in meetings;

(d)to consult regularly with the President on matters of practice and procedure in conducting business of the Council; and

(e)to examine any procedural matters as referred to it by the Council, the President, or raised by members of the Working Group."

Eight Members spoke on the motion.

Having regard to Members' views on the wording of the motion, Mrs Selina CHOW advised the Council that she would also put the resolution back to the Council for its next meeting after refining the wording. In the meantime, the Working Group on Rules of Procedure would proceed to carry out its business along the terms of reference as outlined in the resolution.

In response to a Member's request and with the permission of the President, Mr IP Kwok-him reported that he was elected the Convenor of the Working Group on Administrative Matters, and Mrs Peggy LAM the Deputy Convenor.

Mrs Selina CHOW reported that she was elected the Convenor of the Working Group on Rules of Procedure, and Ms Maria TAM the Deputy Convenor.

Next meeting

The President advised the Council of the provisional dates of the Council's future meetings.

4 Members raised questions on the choice of venue for the meetings of the Council and dates for future meetings. The President responded.


The President declared that the next meeting of the Council would be held on 22 March 1997. The meeting was adjourned at 12:21 p.m.


(Mrs Rita FAN)
President
14 March 1997


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Shenzhen