LegCo to debate motion on ensuring the fair conduct of the Chief Executive Election
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The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (March 22) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on ensuring the fair conduct of the Chief Executive Election.
The motion, moved by Dr Yiu Chung-yim, states: "That this Council requests the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to ensure that the 2017 Chief Executive Election be conducted under fair conditions; this Council also urges the various departments of the Central People's Government not to interfere in the Chief Executive Election, including but not limited to causing a certain candidate to be or not to be elected, or pressurizing members of the Election Committee into making voting decisions against their own wills."
Mr Charles Mok, Ms Claudia Mo, Mr Paul Tse, Ms Starry Lee and Mr Alvin Yeung will move separate amendments to Dr Yiu Chung-yim's motion.
Mr Yiu Si-wing will move a motion on giving full play to the edges of local tourism resources. The motion states: "That benefiting from the expansion of the Individual Visit Scheme by the Mainland, the number of visitor arrivals to Hong Kong had been increasing continuously over the 10 years from 2004 to 2014, driving the development of Hong Kong industries such as retail, hotel, food and beverages and transport; however, the number of visitor arrivals to Hong Kong has been decreasing since 2015, which not only affects the revenues of some sectors of the tourism industry, but also produces ripple effect, causing adverse impact on many related industries, and further affecting the economic development and employment situation of Hong Kong; currently, while a number of tourist attractions which have been operated for years in Hong Kong are becoming less attractive, new tourist attractions with high development costs, such as Kai Tak Fantasy, the West Kowloon Cultural District and the expansion of the Hong Kong Disneyland, are all under planning and construction and some time is needed for their commissioning; the Government should make optimal use of local tourism resources, and integrate the features of traditional and new tourist attractions, so as to highlight the competitive edges of the tourism industry of Hong Kong, thereby attracting tourists with different consumption levels to come to Hong Kong for leisure travel and investors for investment, thus bringing a comprehensive recovery of the tourism industry; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to give full play to the edges of local tourism resources and promote a diversified culture with Hong Kong characteristics to boost the tourism industry; specific measures include:
(1) comprehensively collating resources with tourism values, including country parks, geoparks, museums, cycle tracks, historic buildings, intangible cultural heritage items and various events; and, based on the collation results, studying the establishment of an inter-departmental body to enhance the tourism-related facilities in various districts;
(2) after consulting District Councils and various local stakeholders, providing support in the light of the actual situation of tourism resources in local districts, so as to drive local economic development and increase employment opportunities; and
(3) allocating additional funding to formulate tourism promotion programmes with characteristics of Hong Kong local community, encouraging the relevant industries to join hands in developing new tourism products, and stepping up training for tourism industry practitioners, so as to promote the development of the tourism industry."
Mrs Regina Ip, Mr Wu Chi-wai, Mr Jeffrey Lam, Dr Kwok Ka-ki, Mr Michael Tien, Mr Holden Chow and Mr Luk Chung-hung will move separate amendments to Mr Yiu Si-wing's motion.
In addition, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury will move a proposed resolution under the Public Finance Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to give for a sum not exceeding $95,216,178,000 to be charged on the general revenue for expenditure on the services of the Government in respect of the financial year commencing on April 1, 2017.
Mr Frankie Yick will move a proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending the Air Pollution Control (Vehicle Design Standards) (Emission) (Amendment) Regulation 2017 laid on the table of the Council on February 22, 2017 to the meeting of April 12, 2017.
Ms Starry Lee will move a proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending the Copyright Tribunal Rules laid on the table of the Council on March 1, 2017 to the meeting of April 26, 2017.
On bills, the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017, the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2017 and the Travel Industry Bill will be introduced into the Council for the First Reading and the Second Reading. The Second Reading debate on the Bills will be adjourned.
During the meeting, Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk). Please note that the agenda is subject to change, and the latest information about the agenda could be found on the LegCo Website.
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. They may reserve seats by calling 3919 3399 during office hours. Members of the public can also watch or listen to the meeting via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website.
Ends/Monday, March 20, 2017
Issued at HKT 16:43
Issued at HKT 16:43
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