Newly sworn-in lawmaker Anson Chan Fang On-sang and a top government official locked horns yesterday, unleashing what may be a harbinger of more flare-ups in the future.Chan was labeled a "sudden supporter for livelihood" after her maiden Legco speech on an innocuous social enterprise motion debate.
The remark was made by Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing, who is also a Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress. Pan- democrat lawmakers immediately demanded an apology and a retraction.
Chan had said during her speech: "Speaking for the public and caring for the poor is my election pledge.
"I have the responsibility to speak for the public."
Her words riled Tsang, who shot back: "The new lawmaker today was a top official in the past, once in charge of economic and welfare issues under colonial rule.
"Unless she believes there [was] democracy under the colonial rule, I don't know whether she was doing the work of livelihood or that of an official. She said she has seen the bitterness in people's lives during the election campaign - apart from being a 'sudden democrat' [she's] a sudden supporter for livelihood."
Chan sat stone-faced during Tsang's tirade.
Speaking after the debate, Chan said the attack was personal. "I'm very surprised Secretary Tsang should give such provocative remarks, I can say it's a personal attack," she said, adding that civil servants should learn about democracy.
She refused to say whether Tsang should apologize a
nd take back the remarks."I hope it was only an individual incident, that the remarks did not represent the stance of the government on a democritically elected lawmaker," she added.
According to a government source, with Chan as a lawmaker, top government officials are expected to be more proactive in confrontations with lawmakers in Legco.
Democrat Cheung Man-kwong criticized Tsang's remarks after the meeting, calling them unnecessary and humiliating.
Urging Tsang to apologize and retract his words, Cheung said: "If, without any reason, you publicly humiliate a lawmaker for making some mild and courteous remarks, the public will be dumbfounded over what kind of an official you are."
Lee Cheuk-yan, secretary-general of the Confederation of Trade Unions said: "It seemed not a slip of the tongue but reflected his deep hatred towards her, maybe out of personal dislike."
Political commentator Ivan Choy Chi-keung of the Chinese University said: "The government has kept on saying it would seek ways to improve relations between the administration and the legislature.
"But we are now seeing it has been so mean and unseemly to a new legislator who still has yet to do anything. I just wonder if the government has the sincerity to improve the relationship or is it simply paying lip service?"
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress chairman Tam Yiu-chung said it is common for officials and lawmakers to confront each other during Legco meetings.
