Starry Lee regrets LegCo House Committee became 'battlefield' in political drama

Legislative Council House Committee Chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king expressed her regret that her committee, which was embroiled in filibustering for over seven months, became a major "battlefield" in the city's political melodrama.

In wrapping up the past year's work by the committee that vets bills, Lee said the committee's efficiency was greatly affected because of filibustering by the opposition camp, with only 17 government bills passed — 12 fewer than the previous year.

Lee said it was the most challenging year for the committee, a key organ of the city's legislature, as its work was stalled for seven months.

Tasked with the only job to facilitate the election for a committee chairman, former acting chairman Dennis Kwok Wing-hang had allowed filibusters by opposition lawmakers in the chamber ever since October until Lee was re-elected chairwoman in mid-May.

It was also sad to see the prevailing violence inside the legislature and on the streets, especially with the city's Legislative Council Complex being extensively trashed last year, she added.

She also lamented the opposition camp's attempts to smear all issues that concern the "one country, two systems" principle.

Lee expressed regret over strained executive-legislative relations, which she said lacked interactions.