Absent lawmakers to be fined if meetings adjourned due to lack of quorum

Absent lawmakers without reasonable explanation will be fined HK$3,400 if a Legislative Council meeting is adjourned due to lack of quorum, it is proposed.  

The amount is the daily wage for lawmakers at the moment. 

The Committee on Rules of Procedure today endorsed the proposal to include the fine in the Rules of Procedure governing lawmakers' behavior. 

Other suggestions the committee endorsed include requiring lawmakers to dress formally in meetings, and banning lawmakers to hold signs and banners irrelevant to the topics of the meeting. 

The House Committee will have a discussion over the suggestions on June 25 and the council will scrutinize the suggestions on July 14. Changes are expected to take place this year. 

Paul Tse Wai-chun, chairman of the committee, said that committee members discussed whether lawmakers should be banned from leaving during a quorum call. 

However, the idea was dropped as lawmakers had different opinions and such a ban could violate the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance, Tse added.