**********************************************
Following is a transcript of the answer by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Raymond Tam, in response to a media enquiry after attending the Legislative Council meeting today (June 1):
Reporter: ...... passage of the bill and filibuster......
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs: I would only suggest that you do not over-estimate my wisdom or my plan. It is actually very co-incidental. Actually, it is beyond my imagination that we can close the third reading of this bill in such a dramatic manner. I believe that only reflects two things.
Firstly, it is the solidarity among the pro-establishment Members. Some of them were actually planning to take the floor to speak. But then they gave up their right to speak only to preserve the quorum and to save more time for another important bill to be discussed at this moment.
Secondly, as far as the Government is concerned, we are only doing what we can and what we should do – that is to propose a bill which in our view is moderate, rational and consistent with the majority view of the society. It is up to the Legislative Council to take their steps to pass it or otherwise. In the 25 years of my public service, I have never seen such a dramatic process so far. The past five weeks have been a very memorable event. When I retire, I can put it into my memoir. This will certainly be one of the highlights of my future book.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Friday, June 1, 2012
Issued at HKT 22:12
NNNN
