Filibustering can and will backfire

Representatives of 13 business and trade groups on Thursday met with Chief Executive-designate Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to convey their concerns about industry development and expectations for Hong Kong's economy in the next five years, when Lam will head the special administrative region government. Thomas Tse Che-wah, chief executive of the Hong Kong Construction Association (HKCA), told reporters before the meeting that the construction industry was struggling with dwindling contracts. This was a result of filibustering by opposition lawmakers which had prevented many civil engineering projects from receiving the necessary funding to commence. He said he was obliged to tell the next CE how anxious the construction industry felt at present.

Opposition members of the Legislative Council have borrowed from British and US legislatures over the years in terms of unconstructive, if not downright destructive, tactics and their favorite "trick" has to be the delaying tactic known as "filibustering". The key difference between filibusters here by opposition lawmakers and those seen in Britain or the US is that what we see in Hong Kong tends to be arbitrary and even senseless, meaning it often lacks a clear intent - other than embarrassing the administration and officials - as to what exactly the sponsor wants to achieve from a filibuster. As a result the public is forced to assume those filibustering politicians hate the SAR government so much that they no longer remember their responsibility to serve the public interest.

Such politically motivated and indiscriminate obstruction of government business is also a great disservice to the reputation of democracy in addition to proving the opposition lawmakers, who call themselves "pan-democrats", are losing their political mind. They could have a faint reason to feel vindicated had they all been safe from retribution but the undeniable fact is that some of them did fail to win reelection last year. Even after the previous and current LegCo presidents won widespread public support for exercising their right to terminate filibusters according to the House Rules, the opposition members of LegCo have shown no willingness to rethink their strategy.

We may reckon their obsession with hurting the SAR government in any way possible is not as easy to quit as it seems, but at least they should be able to see they have not found a way to achieve their goal without harming public interest, whatever that goal might be. Many people have concluded that at least some opposition lawmakers never intended to do the right thing; hence their urge to even challenge existing laws. Those opposition LegCo members had better stop believing their reelection is guaranteed by the existing electoral system. The great majority of Hong Kong voters will prove them wrong in due course if they don't mend their ways soon.