Legco president rejects amendments to law

Pro-establishment lawmaker's anger after proposed amendments to legislation rejected

Pro-establishment lawmaker Dr Leung Ka-lau yesterday crossed swords with Jasper Tsang Yok-sing after the Legislative Council president rejected all 110,000 amendments he filed for the medical registration amendment bill which would allow the government to appoint more members to the Medical Council.

Leung, representing the medical sector, said he had no idea why all his amendments would be dismissed.

"As far as I know, Kwok Ka-ki had also tabled an amendment similar to mine which was approved," said Leung, referring to the Civic Party lawmaker who was also a surgeon. "If [Tsang] said my amendments had violated the [Legco's] rules of procedure, it seemed that he had applied the rules at his own will."

But Tsang, who attended the same function with Leung yesterday, defended his decision as he insisted he had always used the same yardstick when scrutinising the amendments filed by lawmakers, regardless of their political views.

"I believe it is difficult for the 110,000 amendments, which are drafted simply based on two clauses [of the bill], not to be 'frivolous or meaningless,'" he said.

At the heart of the debate is the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2016 which the Legco members would resume a second reading of on Wednesday.

The government has proposed to reform the Medical Council by doubling the number of lay members appointed by the chief executive from four to eight in a bid to boost its accountability when dealing with complaint investigations.

Lawmakers across the political spectrum are inclined to back the bill despite strong opposition from the medical sector.

But, Dr Wong Yam-hong, of the pro-democracy doctor's group Médecins Inspirés, said increasing the number of appointed members would allow the chief executive to manipulate the council as he believed they would only speak for the government.

Wong also said the bill, which proposed "facilitating" the admission of non-locally trained doctors, would open the door to underqualified mainland doctors.

"Incidents where patients have their kidney stolen during surgery would no longer only be seen on news but to be happened to your friends as well," he warned. "Lawmakers [who back the bill] will need to pay a huge price in the coming elections."

The Labour Party and the Democratic Party however agreed the bill could boost transparency in the regulatory body and resolve a labour shortage.