@llt @srrtßponùtnt Aueust 1985
Professional Forum hits the headlines "LIFE normally consists of three things
-
a cock-up, a coincidence or a conspiracy. I leave it to you to decide which applies in this case." Fortunately, Mr Michael Thomas, the Attorney General, was not referring to the organisation of the FCC's first Forum on current events on July 8 but to the government's handling of the Powers and Privileges Bitl. The lour speakers - Mr Thomas, Umelco
member Allen Lee, Henry Litton QC and Frank Ching of the Hongkong Observers -
all
praised the club for instigating the forums, which we hope will become a regular feature and will help to contribute to the airing ofvital issues in Hongkong's transition period. The Forum got widespread publicity in the media. Whilst defending the bill as a piece of legislation that most people were now 'reasonably satified' with the
it
AG
admitted
was 'greatly improved' as a result ol the
criticisms and he paid tribute to the press, and in particular Harvey Stockwyn whose
major piece in the South China Morning Post had, he said, made him realise the need for the amendments. The Government he said, had lea¡ned valuable lessons during the passage of the bill, among them recognising the change in the public mood and the need for consultations, the need for more information and the realisation that concern about the bill stemmed lrom a variety of reasons ranging lrom concern about the 'rush' to pass it to a feeling that any changes should wait until the future was clearer.
Allen Lee, who sat
in on the
ad-hoc
committee during the later stages, admitted that while they looked at the bill lrom 'all possible angles' they did not spot the sensitivity and suggested that a law officer should be appointed to detect luture problem areas. Henry Litton, while rej ecting any 'sinister' motives on the part of the government, said that trivia the bill contained concerning 'housekeeping' matters had led to the vital parts being overlooked. These included putting Legco 'above the law', introducing penal sanctions for disrespectful attitudes to
Legco and curtailing lreedom of,speech. "Il we are to succeed in finding a new identity, the government must have the broad support ofthe professional bodiès and the pressure groups. But when,the ptessure groups made themselves heard thèy were accused of manipulating the mediai This is hardly an encouraging start to representative
government", he concluded, 1, Frank Ching reserved rhost oilhis criticism fot Legco which should, he said, act as a line of defence between the government and the public. "What Umelco needs is not a deep sense of trust in the government. Umelco was set up as a watchdog. By assuming that government can always be trusted, Legco members are not discharging their function", he said. While supporting the bill in its amended form, the Attorney General in his summing up did say that although it was not an attempt to find an imaginative solution lor one country-two systems, it was an attempt at codification which went wrong. ,
t
W|Mlilf
The Legco Forum line-up, China Morning Post.
from the left: Allen Lee, Henry Litton, Michael Malik (Chairman), Michael Thomas and Frank Ching. Photo: South