A special meeting will be convened at 9am, as listed on the Legislative Council’s agenda, paving the way for lawmakers to pass the Safeguarding National Security Bill.
Legco president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen endorsed the decision to call the meeting, according to a notice that dealt with security chief Chris Tang Ping-keung’s written request made last Friday to resume the second reading at the “earliest possible date”.
“The Legco president fully supports the completion of the legislation ‘as early as possible’ to plug the national security loophole,” the Legco notice released on Monday morning said.
It added Leung had also informed the authorities on Monday about the additional meeting to deal with “the remaining legislative procedure” for the bill, with other matters of the legislature to be set aside.
Why is Hong Kong going full speed with its Article 23 security legislation?
Why is Hong Kong going full speed with its Article 23 security legislation?
Each lawmaker is allowed to speak for a maximum of 10 minutes during the second reading before votes are taken on the amendments. A committee of the whole council will then consider the bill, followed by the third reading debate, after which the legislation can be passed.
Lawmakers completed a clause-by-clause scrutiny of the bill in six days last week.
The legislature earlier waived a 12-day notice period to speed up the vetting process after a written request from Tang to the House Committee last Friday.
The bill, which will complement the national security law Beijing imposed on the city in 2020, targets five new offences: treason; insurrection; theft of state secrets and espionage; sabotage endangering national security; and external interference.
The legislation is mandated under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.
Source: scmp.com
