Legal challenge bids to halt controversial extra funding for Hong Kong cross-border rail link
Lawmaker’s assistant made first step towards judicial review by filing an application for legal aid
A lawmaker’s assistant took the first step towards challenging the controversial HK$19.6 billion funding passed at the Legislative Council for the cross-border rail link last week.
If Cheng Sze-lut – an assistant for Labour Party lawmaker Cyd Ho Sau-lan – succeeds, a judicial review will be lodged to challenge the funding passed on March 11 at Legco’s financial committee, at the helm of acting chairman Chan Kam-lam.
The extra funding was for the express railway connecting Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, which had already secured HK$65 billion several years ago.
The infrastructure has also been the centre of controversy over talks to set up a mainland immigration checkpoint in the city.
Cheng said he would argue that Chan had bypassed the committee’s rules and exceeded his power when he allegedly let his instinct take over at the time he declared the funding had passed.
READ MORE: Uproar at Legco after snap vote leads to passage of HK$19.6 billion for Hong Kong high-speed rail link
Cheng was accompanied by Labour Party lawmakers Ho, Lee Cheuk-yan and Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung when he submitted the application at the Legal Aid office in Admiralty yesterday.
Speaking to the media, he said many lawmakers were out of their seats protesting moments before the funding was put to vote on the day.
“But Chan Kam-lam suddenly managed to skip [point 37A of the Financial Committee Procedure] and allow it to go to vote,” he said, referring to the procedure that allows a member of the committee to raise a motion about the funding with prior notice as long as the chairman thinks the motion is directly related.
The procedure normally comes after lawmakers finish raising their questions, but before the voting.
Chan allegedly skipped the procedure that day after asking security guards to remove recently elected Civic Party lawmaker Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, whom he gave seven minutes to speak.
Pan-democrats lawmakers then surrounded Yeung, holding a megaphone, to shield him from the guards, only to find Chan putting the funding to vote.
Cheng also accused Chan of failing to properly indicate the options when he administrated the voting.
“Many lawmakers are voting for a yes, no, and abstinence at the same time and in such chaotic circumstances, how could it be called a reasonable procedure?” he asked, saying Chan had set up a bad role model.
READ MORE: Standoff at Legco – rail link funding controversy continues as pan-democrats grind Finance Committee meeting to a halt
Cheng said apart from overturning Chan’s decision, he and others also wanted to send a clear message to the public that the pro-establishment camp had been engaging in destructive acts.
Lawmaker Ip Kwok-him, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said Chan had already explained his decision.
He welcomed the judicial challenge, but said relying on the legal aid would be a waste of taxpayer’s money.
Cheng is acting with the support of all of the pan-democrat camp.
