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High Tide (May 6th 2015) – Daily Political Round-up - Harbour Times

High Tide (May 6th 2015) – Daily Political Round-up

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No appointed seats for DC election; masks and bath caps during identity parade; Tung’s group gathers force. Photo Credit: Chris Lusher


 

Politics (Gov’t & LegCo)

No appointed Councillors for coming District Council Election.
– The Electoral Affairs Commission announced the start of a one-month public consultation on District Council Election proposed guidelines
– According to the guidelines, all appointed seats will be replaced (in Chinese) by elected Councillors and the total number of constituencies will be increased by 19 to 431
– Clear checking measures for the registration cycle has been set out and any attempt to give false or misleading information for voter registration has been warned about
– media organisations has also been urged to uphold the “fair and equal treatment” in handling election-related programmes

LegCo committees on minibuses and unauthorised building constructions.
– Members of the LegCo Panel on Transport discussed yesterday policies concerning minibuses operations in Hong Kong
– Undersecretary for Transport and Housing Yau Shing-mu said the the Government is conducting a study on increasing the number of minibuses and the seats installed in each minibuses
– Meanwhile, the Public Accounts Committee heard the authorities’ response on an earlierreport by the Audit Commission on delays in removing unauthorised building works
– Secretary for Development Paul Chan admitted that there is room for improvement for the Buildings Department to step up enforcement, while stressing that the Department has already issued 80,000 removal orders, 5,000 warning letters, 20,000 advisory letters and more than 12,000 prosecutions in the 200,000 cases processed

New Commissioner sparks controversy over identity parade.
– Hong Kong’s new commissioner, Stephen Lo, aroused some discussions immediately after his inauguration as he defended the Force’s permission to let suspects who attacked a TVB reporter during a pro-establishment march on Oct 25 last year wear masks and bath caps at two identity parades
– Lo, who earlier listed terrorism and cyber-crime as his two priorities, claimed that suspects have the rights to demand what to wear during a parade

Carrie Lam visits Dublin.
– Chief Secretary Carrie Lam visited Dublin as her trip to the EU continues
– Lam visited the Centre for Digital Content Platform Research and later met with Provost and President of Trinity College Dublin Dr Patrick Prendergast, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys as well as China’s Ambassador to Ireland Xu Jianguo
– Meanwhile, CY Leung, during his trip to Boston, attended a luncheon hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, New York

Diplomat

One-man Consulate hosts celebration of Polish Constitution Day in Hong Kong.
– Mr Miroslaw Adamczyk, consul general and the only official staff of the Polish Consulate-General, hosted the celebration of the Polish May 3rd Constitution Day in Hong Kong
– Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen was the gueat of honour
– LegCo president Jasper Tsang, Secretary for Education Eddie Ng and veteran democrat Martin Lee were also on the scene
– The Polish Constitution of 3rd May, 1791 is widely recognised as the world’s second oldest constitution

Politics (general)

Tung Chee-hwa stepping up in Hong Kong politics as his think tank gathers force.
– Former CE Tung Chee-hwa announced an expansion of his ‘Our Hong Kong Foundation’ to 104 members
– Tung said the think tank will focus on five areas namely housing, economic development, ageing and healthcare, retirement protection and political reform
– Tung brushed off claims that he is building up a shadow government to help the governance of CY Leung
– Tung, meanwhile, hinted that CE candidates who resist Beijing’s authority are not likely to get to the final round of the election
– The pro-Beijing Alliance for Peace and Democracy, with Chow Yung as its core member, is planning to set up booths next week to gather signatures in a bid to support the Government’s reform package