Lonely at top for Legco chief

The president of the Legislative Council, Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, said he felt "lonely" during the last four years and hasn't decided whether he will stand for reelection or not.

With the current legislative term ending tomorrow, Leung said yesterday his presidency has been a "turbulent and stormy journey filled with ups and downs."

"As president, I have to remain neutral and show everyone that my stance is neutral," he said. "Whether I approve a certain decision made in the debates or not, there will always be people who will criticize my decision."

The current Legco is "too divisive," he said, and lawmakers should unite to balance the separation of powers in the next term, he said.

During Leung's presidency, he has arranged question-and-answer sessions to be held between Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and lawmakers to try and ease the tense relations between them.

"Merely scolding the government is not effective - they [legislators and the government] should build a better relationship to get more things done," Leung said.

The worry for him is that protests inside and outside Legco will become more violent.

Lawmakers have come up with endless tactics to filibuster this term, Leung said, adding that he does not think the national security law will restrict their right to protest.

"I don't think lawmakers will encourage the public sink down to the level of terrorism and attack Hong Kong, or collude with Western forces to separate Hong Kong, and I believe the space for protests in Legco will not be restricted."

A Legco meeting was adjourned yesterday due to insufficient quorum. Leung resumed the session at 2pm, with 10 bills still awaiting approval.

Yesterday's debate lasted from 9am to 12.20pm. It is the second reading of a mandatory provident fund scheme amendment bill.

Once passed, it will allow a centralized online platform to be set up for MPF users to manage their accounts, as well as allowing the fund authority to collect from trustees an annual registration fee of 0.03 percent of the net asset value of an MPF scheme.

Pro-democracy legislators called for quorum calls least seven times over the course of the meeting. This raised pro-establishment lawmakers' ire, with Junius Ho Kwan-yiu saying the quorum count rule was being abused.