City’s leader finally agrees
to one of protesters’ five demands after weeks of insisting bill would not be
withdrawn
Published: 2:04pm, 4 Sep, 2019
Embattled Hong Kong leader
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has formally withdrawn the much-despised
extradition bill
that sparked the nearly three-month long protest crisis now roiling the
city, confirming the South China Morning Post’s exclusive report
earlier on Wednesday.
She will also set up an
investigative platform to look into the fundamental causes of the social unrest
and suggest solutions for the way forward — though stopping short of turning it
into a full-fledged commission of inquiry, as demanded by protesters.
The decision to withdraw the
bill will mean that the government is finally acceding to at least one of the
five demands of the protesters, who have taken to the streets over the past 13
weeks to voice not just their opposition to the legislation, but the overall
governance of the city in demonstrations that have become increasingly violent.
Apart from the formal
withdrawal of the legislation, the protesters have asked for the government to
set up a commission of inquiry to investigate police conduct in tackling the
protests; grant amnesty to those who have been arrested; stop characterising
the protests as riots; and restart the city’s stalled political reform process.
Whether they will view the
investigative committee as adequate in meeting the call for a commission
remains to be seen. Concerning the bill’s withdrawal, a government source said
that Lam will emphasise that the move is a technical procedure to streamline the
legislative agenda, with the Legislative Council set to reopen in October after
its summer break.
Lam had earlier suspended
the bill, which would have allowed for the extradition of criminals to
jurisdictions with which the city lacked a treaty, including the mainland, but
critics have not been satisfied.
They argued that for as long
as the bill remained on the legislative agenda, there was every chance it could
be resuscitated within the Legislative Council’s current term, which ends next
year.
Lam dug her heels in, saying
the bill was suspended to signal that the government’s intention – to close
existing loopholes to the legislation to pursue criminals who were treating the
city as a safe haven – remained a worthy and legitimate goal.
A day after she suspended the
bill, an
estimated 2 million people took to the streets on June 16, and more
protests have since followed throughout the summer.
The chief
executive then declared the bill to be “dead”, stressing that there was not
a chance that it would be tabled. Critics again lambasted her for being
prideful in not wanting to be seen to be backing down.
Last weekend saw some of
the fiercest
battles between protesters and police, as the force launched a wave
of mass
arrests on the eve of a banned march, and demonstrators lobbed 100 petrol
bombs at targets such as police headquarters and stations and government
buildings.
“This gesture to formally
withdraw is a bid to cool down the atmosphere,” a source said.
Another source said the full
withdrawal of the bill was the easiest way to ease tensions in the city.
“The chief executive started
to change her mind after meeting with 19 city leaders two weeks ago. She heeded
their views on how to de-escalate the tensions,” the source said.
On August 24, some 19 senior
city leaders and politicians gathered at Lam’s residence to brainstorm how to
broker a dialogue with those behind Hong Kong’s crippling anti-government
protest crisis.
Tik Chi-yuen, chairman of the
political group, Third Side, and one of the attendees at the August 24 meeting,
said the withdrawal of the bill and the launch of an independent inquiry, were
practical ways for the government to show sincerity in engaging in dialogue
with various sectors.
Analysts said there were
critical differences between the suspension and withdrawal of a bill.
Experts on parliamentary
procedures said that with a suspension, the legislation was technically still
alive and, in theory, could be reintroduced by way of a straightforward notice
from the government to the Legislative Council president.
It remains on the books as
part of the government’s legislative agenda, but its shelf life will exist in
sync with the current term of Legco, which ends in July 2020.
In 2003, the government tried
to enact a national security law, a constitutional duty under Article 23 of the
Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution. Back then half a million people took
to the streets in opposition.
Then chief executive Tung
Chee-hwa first delayed the second reading of the draft bill on the national
security law in July, and promised to listen to public opinion and study the
draft bill again. But faced with doubts, Tung withdrew the bill entirely two
months later.
In anticipation of Lam’s
announcement, the Hang Seng benchmark index jumped 952 points, or 3.73 per
cent, to 26,359 as of 3.25pm.
On LIHKG, the Reddit-like site
popular with protesters, the immediate reaction appeared of scepticism as
commenters said the withdrawal was too little too late. They said the key
demand now was to hold the police force accountable, as clashes with them had
turned increasingly violent.
Lam’s decision comes a day
before she leaves for Nanning in Guangxi for the annual pan-Pearl River Delta
regional cooperation conference. It will mark her first official trip outside
the city since the protests began on June 9. Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung
Kin-chung will be acting chief executive.
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