The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (March 28) at 11.30am (or immediately after the meeting for the Chief Executive's Question Time to be held at 11am) in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, the Second Reading debate on the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2017 will resume. If the Bill is supported by Members and receives its Second Reading, it will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council.  After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bill and its report is adopted by the Council, the Bill will be set down for the Third Reading.

     In addition, the Second Reading debate on the Chinese Medicine (Amendment) Bill 2017 will also resume. If the Bill is supported by Members and receives its Second Reading, it will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council.  After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bill and its report is adopted by the Council, the Bill will be set down for the Third Reading.

     On Members' motions, Mr Chu Hoi-dick will move a motion on the reform of two-tier Councils and statutory bodies. The motion states: "That the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China adopted on August 31, 2014 the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Issues Relating to the Selection of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by Universal Suffrage and on the Method for Forming the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the Year 2016 (the August 31 Decision), and the constitutional reform of Hong Kong has since remained stagnant; the subsequent social movement also failed to change the constitutional situation of Hong Kong for the time being; some critics have denounced civil resistance as 'internal attrition', yet that is actually one of the most important democratic ideologies and debates since the handover of sovereignty in 1997; the voter turnout rates and the numbers of voters of the District Council Election in 2015 and the Legislative Council Election in 2016 were evidences of Hong Kong people's commitment to political participation; apart from focusing on striving for selecting the Chief Executive and forming the Legislative Council by universal suffrage, Hong Kong people should also grasp the opportunity of the democratic ideology to review the roles, compositions, powers and functions of various tiers of the existing political system which is executive-led in name but centralisation of power in reality, so as to provide the important conditions for selecting the Chief Executive and forming the Legislative Council by universal suffrage; in this connection, this Council urges the SAR Government to reform the existing relationships among the Legislative Council, District Councils and statutory bodies and their respective roles, and the specific proposals include:

(1) amending Article 74 of the Basic Law and reforming the Private Bills Ordinance to relax the requirements of introducing bills by Legislative Council Members, so that the Legislative Council can have real legislative power;

(2) reforming the Public Finance Ordinance to further affirm the roles of the Legislative Council in amending government financial proposals and budgets;

(3) giving District Councils real powers of district administration, so that District Councils can have the powers of the former Urban Council/former Regional Council in formulating estimates of expenditure and managing municipal affairs;

(4) conferring the right of community planning on District Councils, and instructing the democraticed Town Planning Board to handle 'appeal' cases involving community planning by District Councils, so as to monitor the work of District Councils in respect of community planning; and

(5) reviewing the powers, functions and compositions of various statutory bodies (including introduction of elected members or directors) to enhance their information transparency and accountability."

     Dr Helena Wong and Mr Cheung Kwok-kwan will move separate amendments to Mr Chu's motion.

     Mr Shiu Ka-fai will move a motion on stimulating internal demand and opening up new visitor sources. The motion states: "That, given the Government's ample fiscal reserves and fiscal stability, this Council urges the Government to make good use of this favourable state of public finance for launching more measures to improve people's livelihood, so as to return wealth to people and stimulate internal demand; the Government should at the same time expedite the provision of additional tourism supporting facilities to upgrade Hong Kong's visitor receiving capability and capacity, and alleviate the inconvenience caused by visitors to members of the public through better diversion, so as to open up new visitor sources for the benefit of the tourism, retail, catering and transport sectors, etc. and the overall economy of Hong Kong."

     Dr Kwok Ka-ki, Mr Jeffrey Lam, Mr Yiu Si-wing, Mr Michael Tien, Dr Chiang Lai-wan, Mr Wu Chi-wai and Mr Lam Cheuk-ting will move separate amendments to Mr Shiu's motion.

     During the meeting, Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies. 
    
     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 on 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. Members of the public can also watch or listen to the meeting via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website.

Ends/Monday, March 26, 2018
Issued at HKT 17:34

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