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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting on Wednesday (May 29) at 11am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Complex. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on the June 4 incident. The motion, to be moved by Mr Albert Ho, states: " That this Council urges that: the June 4 incident be not forgotten and the 1989 pro-democracy movement be vindicated."
Members will also debate a motion on the democratic procedures for the election of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage in 2017. The motion, to be moved by Mr Alan Leong, states: "That Qiao Xiaoyang, Chairman of the Law Committee under the National People's Congress, made a speech on March 24 this year, indicating that regarding the election of the Chief Executive of the HKSAR by universal suffrage, 'the issue that requires a consensus is essentially about the democratic procedures for nomination'; in this connection, this Council urges the SAR Government to ensure that, irrespective of how various sectors interpret the so-called 'democratic procedures for nomination', when formulating the proposals on the election of the Chief Executive in 2017, the rights to make nomination, to stand for election and to vote are universal and equal, without any 'screening' or 'pre-selection' through a nominating committee."
Mr Ip Kwok-him, Mr Wong Yuk-man, Mr Michael Tien and Ms Cyd Ho will move separate amendments to Mr Alan Leong's motion. Mr Lee Cheuk-yan will move an amendment to Mr Ip Kwok-him's amendment.
Dr Lam Tai-fai will also move a motion on enhancing the overall sustainable competitiveness of Hong Kong. The motion states: "That the China Urban Competitiveness Reports issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in recent years point out that the gap between Hong Kong's competitiveness and that of other Mainland cities is continuously getting narrower, and Hong Kong's overall growth is relatively slow, with the scale of its economy expected to lag behind those of Mainland cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, etc., by 2015; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to conduct a comprehensive review and assessment of areas such as economic development, improvement of people's livelihood, promotion of democracy, etc., and formulate feasible and timely policies which will be implemented, so as to enhance Hong Kong's overall sustainable competitiveness."
Mr Tang Ka-piu, Mr Christopher Cheung, Dr Lo Wai-kwok, Dr Kenneth Chan, Mr Wu Chi-wai and Mr Charles Peter Mok will move separate amendments to Dr Lam Tai-fai's motion.
On government motion, the Secretary for Transport and Housing will move a proposed resolution under the Road Traffic Ordinance and the Road Traffic (Driving-offence Points) Ordinance.
During the meeting, Members will ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
In addition, three Members' motions will be dealt with at the Council meeting of June 5, 2013. The first motion is about actively promoting family-friendly policies. The motion, to be moved by Ms Starry Lee, states: "That, given the occurrence of a number of family tragedies in Hong Kong in recent years, which have greatly shocked the society and reflected the existence of many unhealthy trends in today's society gradually breaking up, damaging and distorting the social and family relationships, this Council urges that the Government should make stronger efforts in promoting family-friendly policies, enhancing family cohesion and individual resilience against adversities, restoring mutual love among family members and building up positive family values, so as to create a harmonious society; the proposed measures include:
(1) the relevant departments should assess the gravity of domestic violence in Hong Kong at present, enhance the relevant social welfare services, review the modes of professional services for handling and supporting families in crisis and the corresponding effectiveness of inter-departmental support services, and strengthen outreach services, so as to provide families in crisis with highly efficient, timely and targeted services;
(2) to expeditiously implement an impact assessment system in respect of public policies on families to assess the impact of existing social policies, legislation and measures on families, so as to make the relevant improvements;
(3) to enhance the functions of the Family Council, and set up a 'social fund for families' to subsidize social welfare organizations to organize programmes and activities related to family education;
(4) to actively step up publicity on positive family education on parenting, child duties and ethics, and promote family education through community service organizations, schools and the media, etc.;
(5) to provide more child care support services to dual-income parents (including expanding community child-minding services, increasing the child-minding places in various districts, providing flexible-hour child-minding services, etc.); develop after-school remedial centres to enable children of dual-income parents to receive appropriate care after school;
(6) to encourage public and private organizations to implement family-friendly employment policies more proactively for creating a family-friendly working environment, including encouraging organizations to provide staff with child care services and implementing a flexible working hour system with 'flexible hours and flexible places', and implementing a flexible leave policy, etc.;
(7) to include all public holidays other than Sundays as paid statutory holidays through employer-employee negotiations and a progressive approach; and promote 'International Day of Families' to call on the community to cherish the value of family;
(8) to raise the Child Allowance, subsidize the pre-primary education across the board, and conduct studies on extending the applicability of existing paid maternity leave to employees engaged under non-employment contracts, etc. so as to alleviate the financial burden on families in Hong Kong; and
(9) to promote a housing policy which fosters inter-generational harmony, encourage the inclusion of residential complementary facilities suitable for both the elderly and the young in the designs of private and public housing, and improve community facilities to provide families with more room for parent-child activities."
Mr Kwok Wai-keung, Mr Wong Kwok-hing, Dr Helena Wong, Mr Cheung Kwok-che and Ms Claudia Mo will move separate amendments to Ms Starry Lee's motion.
The second motion is about enacting legislation on the right to collective bargaining. The motion, to be moved by Mr Lee Cheuk-yan, states: "That the International Labour Organization (ILO) ruled in 1998 that the repeal of the Employee's Rights to Representation, Consultation and Collective Bargaining Ordinance by the relevant authority in Hong Kong was in breach of the International Labour Convention, and recommended that the Government formulate legal provisions to put in place objective procedures for determining the representative status of trade unions for collective bargaining purposes, but the Administration has yet to implement ILO's recommendation; this Council expresses deep regret in this regard, and urges the Government to expeditiously legislate to affirm workers' right to collective bargaining; the relevant legislation must include:
(1) to lay down objective criteria and procedures for determining bargaining units and the bargaining status of trade unions;
(2) to require employees and employers to negotiate in good faith the employment terms and conditions as well as other issues involving labour relations;
(3) to clarify the legal effect of collective agreements reached between employees and employers; and
(4) to formulate remedial measures for contravention of collective bargaining requirements and collective agreement terms.
Mr Tang Ka-piu and Mr Christopher Chung will move separate amendments to Mr Lee Cheuk-yan's motion.
The third motion is about safeguarding freedom of information, of the press and of the Internet. The motion, to be moved by Mr Charles Peter Mok, states: "That, as the free flow of information is an important cornerstone of Hong Kong's economic and social development, this Council urges the Government to safeguard freedom of information, freedom of the press and freedom of the Internet, so as to uphold the core values cherished by the public and Hong Kong's economic development advantages."
Dr Kenneth Chan, Ms Claudia Mo, Mr Gary Fan, Ms Emily Lau, Dr Elizabeth Quat and Ms Cyd Ho will move separate amendments to Mr Charles Peter Mok's motion.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo website (www.legco.gov.hk). Please note that the agenda is subject to change, and the latest information about the agenda could be found in the LegCo website.
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. They may reserve seats by calling 3919 3399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Members of the public can also watch or listen the meeting via the web broadcast system on the LegCo website.
Ends/Monday, May 27, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:46
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