Civil servants voice out against reform package; ITB saga in FC likely to repeat; ATV head makes new investors announcement. Photo Credit: Chris Lusher
Police appeal to Admiralty occupants to remove “offensive weapons”.
– Assistant commissioner Cheung Tak-keung said “woods, nails, bottle glasses, etc.” were found near the tents on the pavement outside the LegCo Complex and urged the persons concerned to remove the items by today noon
– Cheung also warned online activists that “most of the laws in the real world are also applicable to the cyber world”
– Civic Party’s Chan Ka-lok and Labour Party’s Cyd Ho stressed (ch) the Police should only enter the LegCo Complex in situations which the building’s security guards could not handle, or else the principle of the separation of powers would be infringed
– DAB’s Ip Kwok-him said there is a mechanism to allow the Police to ensure the security of the LegCo Complex in light of potential “offensive weapons” stored in protesters’ tents
Pan-dems blast the Government for rushing for ITB in Finance Committee meeting.
– Five funding items were approved in a bundle with 38 yes votes and one abstention vote in yesterday’s Finance Committee meeting
– Pan-dem lawmakers slammed the Government for rushing for Innovation & Technology Bureau funding as Finance Committee chairman Alan Leong rejected a last minute request from the authorities to include the funding application of the ITB into the agenda
– Leong said funding for social relief measures should be considered first while DAB’s Chan Kam-lam hit back at the pan-dems and argued they should not have filibustered in the first place
– Meanwhile, lawmakers discussed a HKD300 million art development pilot scheme in the Panel on Home Affairs meeting as pan-dems expressed concerns over large organisations receiving most of the funding
Government appoints acting Managing Director for URA.
– The Government appointed Daniel Lam Chun as the interim Managing Director of the Urban Renewal Authority for ten months starting from next Monday to replace the resigned Iris Tam Siu-ying
– Chun was a non-official member of the URA since 2008 and a surveyor by profession
– Tam resigned earlier citing “ideological differences” with chairman Victor So
Politics (general)
– An open letter from a group of anonymous civil servants was published yesterday onMing Pao voicing their opposition to the political reform package
– The group urged lawmakers to reject the proposal and stated that passing it would “mean an end to the glory of this bright and shining city”
– Meanwhile, CY Leung urged the public to pay attention to the track record and political inclinations of various pollsters as a joint-university rolling survey showed that opposition to the package outnumbered supporters for the first time
ATV urged to provide information on change in shareholder structure.
– ATV’s executive director Ip Ka-po revealed that the troubled broadcaster has secured a deal new investors in bid to alter its fate
– The Communications Authority however said it has yet to received any application over ATV’s transfer of shares and demanded the broadcaster to provide details
– Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung said (ch) he was delighted to know that salary issues regarding ATV staff could be resolved
HC agrees to hear review over political reform advertisement.
– The High Court has approved a request for a judicial review over the Government’s political reform advertisement
– The judge said it is necessary to call for detailed examination over the term “public interest”
– The judge meanwhile rejected to impose a temporary restraining order on the ads, claiming that they have already been on-air for some time and hence were not likely to create further defects
