The Fourth Legislative Council of Hong Kong was the fourth meeting of the legislative branch of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. The membership of the LegCo is based on the 2008 election. The term of the session is from 1 October 2008 to 30 September 2012, during the second half of the Donald Tsang's administration and first two months of the Leung Chun-ying's term in office. The meeting place was moved from the Legislative Council Building to the new built Legislative Council Complex in 2011. The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong remained the largest party with 10 seats. Notable newcomers to the Legislative Council included Regina Ip, Priscilla Leung, Wong Yuk-man, Tanya Chan, and Paul Tse.
Major events 8 October 2008: The DAB member Jasper Tsang Yok-sing who was widely assumed to b a member of the Chinese Communist Party, something he would neither confirm nor deny, was elected President of the Legislative Council. 15 October 2008: Annual policy address of the Chief Executive Donald Tsang. During the address, the League of Social Democrats legislator Wong Yuk-man hurled a banana in the direction of Donald Tsang. The three LSD members were ejected from the chamber for the act. 18 December 2009 – 16 January 2010: Pro-democracy legislators filibustered against the financing for the constructions of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link by raising many questions on very specific issues, delaying the passing of the bill from 18 December 2009 to 16 January 2010.Hong Kong Opposition to Rail Holds Off Vote, Wall Street Journal On the evenings the meetings were held, the Legislative Council Building was surrounded by thousands of anti-high-speed rail protesters. 26 January 2010 – 16 May 2010: The legislators from the Civic Party (Alan Leong and Tanya Chan) and League of Social Democrats (Wong Yuk-man, Albert Chan and Leung Kwok-hung) resigned and launched a direct by-election for all five constituencies in which they called a de facto referendum on 16 May 2010. 23—25 June 2010: The revised 2012 electoral reform package was passed with absolute majority supported by the Democratic Party in the LegCo after hours of hot debates. The resolution for the chief executive in 2012 from 800 to 1,200 members, won endorsement at 2.20 pm on 24 June by the legislature by 46 votes to 13. Pan-democrats who supported the proposals included eight from the Democratic Party, Joseph Lee Kok-long and Frederick Fung of the ADPL.Cheung, Gary; Wong, Albert & Fung, Fanny (25 Jun 2010) "Cheers and jeers for political reform vote", South China Morning Post James To, who had earlier expressed misgivings about giving his support, voted in favour.Yau, Thomas (25 Jun 2010), "Reluctant James To toes the party line" The Standard The 'Amendment to method for forming the Hong Kong Legislative Council' was approved by LegCo at 13:30 on 25 June, with 46 votes in favour and 12 against. 'Longhair' Leung Kwok-hung was ejected from the chamber just prior to the vote.Balfour, Frederik & Lui, Marco (25 Jun 2010). "Hong Kong Lawmakers Approve Tsang’s Election Plan" (Update1), BusinessWeek Thousands of protestors from both for and against the proposal gathered outside of the LegCo building. 2—17 May 2012: Albert Chan and Wong Yuk-man of People Power submitted 1306 amendments altogether to the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012, by which the government attempted to forbid resigning lawmakers from participating in by-elections. Leung Kwok-hung of the League of Social Democrats and Andrew Cheng also participated in the filibustering. Miriam Lau of the Liberal Party carried out a 30-hour hunger strike to voice her opposition against such act of obstructionism and waste of public coffers. The legislative council carried on multiple overnight debates on the amendments with the support of the pro-Establishment camp. On morning of 17 May 2012, Jasper Tsang, President of the Legco adopt Article 92 of the Standing Order, which allows the president follow foreign parliament rules for unregulated behaviours to terminate the debate. In the end, all amendments were defeated and the Bill was passed.
Major legislation
Enacted 16 December 2009: Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2009 17 July 2010: Minimum Wage Bill 3 March 2011: Chief Executive Election (Amendment) Bill 2010 5 March 2011: Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2010 1 June 2012: Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012
Proposed Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2011
Chief Executive Election and Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2010
Following the reform plan passed in June, the LegCo passed the Chief Executive (Amendment) Bill on 3 March 2011 and Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill on 5 March with the Democratic Party voted for the bill. The membership of the Election Committee to return the Chief Executive increased from 800 to 1,200, while the number of seats in the LegCo rose by 10 to 70. Five of the new seats, known as 'super lawmakers', would be in the district councils functional constituency, where 3.2 million people would be eligible to vote.
Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012
The 2010 by-election launched by the pro-democracy legislators was strongly criticised by the Beijing government. The government tried to plug the "loophole" by passing the vacancies on to runners-up in the previous election, which was strongly opposed by the legal experts as unconstitutional The pro-democracy camp was strongly opposed to the bill, as it was seen as depriving citizens of their political rights. At last, the government modified the bill to bar the resigning legislator from running again for six months. People Power legislators started the filibuster against it but the bill was passed after President Tsang Yok-sing halted the debate.
Composition
AffiliationElectionAt dissolution Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong1010 Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions44 Alliance/Professional Forum34 Economic Synergy 04 Liberal Party73 Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions11 New People's Party01 129 Total for pro-Beijing camp3736 Democratic Party88 Civic Party55 Labour Party03 People Power02 League of Social Democrats31 Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre11 Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood11 Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions10 Frontier10 Civic Act-up10 Hong Kong Social Workers' General Union10 12 Total for pan-democracy camp2323 Total6059 Vacant01
Note: Italic represents organisations that still function but become under another affiliation.
Graphical representation of the Legislative Council
Leadership Office PartyOfficer Constituency Since President DAB Jasper Tsang Yok-sing Hong Kong Island 2008
List of members The following table is a list of LegCo members elected on 7 September 2008 in the order of precedence.
Members who did not serve throughout the term are italicised. New members elected since the general election are noted at the bottom of the page.
Key to changes since legislative election: a = change in party allegiance b = by-election c = other change GC/FC Constituency Portrait Elected Members Elected Party Political Alignment Born Occupation(s) AssumedOffice GCHong Kong IslandDABPro-BeijingLegislative Councillor1998 GCNew Territories WestDemocratic Pan-democracySolicitor and Notary PublicLegislative Councillor1998FCEngineeringAlliancePro-BeijingEngineer1998GCNew Territories WestCTUaPan-democracyLegislative Councillor1998FCFinanceIndependentPro-Beijing Banker1998GCKowloon EastDemocraticPan-democracyLegislative Councillor1998FCLegalCivicPan-democracyBarrister-at-law1998GCKowloon WestDemocratic Pan-democracySolicitor1998FCEducationDemocratic/PTUPan-democracyTeacherLegislative Councillor1998GCKowloon EastDABPro-BeijingLegislative Councillor1998FCTextiles and GarmentLiberalaPro-BeijingCompany Director1998GCNew Territories WestNWSCPan-democracyLegislative Councillor1998FCCommercial (Second)IndependentPro-BeijingCompany Chairman 1998FCAgriculture and FisheriesDABPro-Beijing Legislative Councillor1998GCNew Territories EastDABPro-Beijing Legislative Councillor1998FCHeung Yee KukLiberalaPro-BeijingCompany Chairman1998FCTransportLiberalPro-BeijingSolicitor and Notary Public1998GCNew Territories EastFrontieraPan-democracyLegislative Councillor1998GCNew Territories EastDemocraticaPan-democracySolicitor1998FCSports, Performing Arts,Culture and PublicationIndependentPro-BeijingMerchant1998GCNew Territories WestDABPro-BeijingLegislative Councillor1998FCReal Estate and ConstructionAlliancePro-BeijingCompany Director2000FCLabourFLUPro-BeijingTrade Union Officer2000FCCateringLiberalPro-BeijingMerchantLegislative Councillor2000GCNew Territories WestbLSDaPan-democracyLegislative Councillor2000GCKowloon WestADPLPan-democracyLegislative Councillor2000GCHong Kong IslandCivicPan-democracySenior Counsel2000 (b)FCWholesale and RetailLiberalPro-BeijingChief ExecutiveManaging Director2004GCNew Territories WestFTUPro-BeijingFTU Director2004GCNew Territories WestDemocraticPan-democracyDistrict Councillor2004FCHealth ServicesIndependentPan-democracyDean and Professor2004FCCommercial (First)LiberalaPro-BeijingMerchant2004FCIndustrial (First)LiberalaPro-BeijingMerchant2004GCKowloon EastbCivicPan-democracySenior Counsel2004GCNew Territories EastbLSDPan-democracyLegislative Councillor2004GCNew Territories WestDABPro-BeijingLegislative Councillor2004FCImport and ExportDABPro-BeijingMerchant2004GCNew Territories EastCivicPan-democracySenior Counsel2004FCFinancial ServicesIndependentPro-BeijingCompany Director2004FCArchitectural, Surveyingand PlanningAlliancePro-Beijing ArchitectProfessor2004GCHong Kong IslandDemocraticPan-democracySocial Worker2008GCHong Kong IslandCivic Act-upaPan-democracyPolitician2008GCKowloon WestDABPro-BeijingAccountant2008FCIndustrial (Second)IndependentPro-BeijingMerchant2008GCNew Territories EastDABPro-BeijingResearcher2008FCAccountancycIndependentPro-BeijingAccountant2008FCInsuranceIndependentPro-BeijingAdvisor2008GCHong Kong IslandbCivicPan-democracyBarrister-at-law2008GCKowloon WestIndependentaPro-BeijingAssociate ProfessorBarrister-at-law2008FCMedicalIndependentNon-alignedDoctor2008FCSocial WelfareSWGU/ADPLaPan-democracySocial Worker2008GCNew Territories EastDemocraticPan-democracySocial Worker2008GCKowloon EastFTUPro-BeijingFTU Chair2008GCKowloon WestbLSDaPan-democracyCommentator2008FCLabourFTUPro-BeijingTrade Union Worker2008FCDistrict CouncilDABPro-BeijingExecutive Secretary2008GCHong Kong IslandIndependentaPro-BeijingChair of Savantas Policy Institute2008FCLabourFTUPro-BeijingPsychiatrist2008FCTourismIndependentPro-BeijingSolicitor2008FCInformation TechnologyIndependentPro-BeijingCompany Director2008
By-election 16 May 2010, Albert Chan, Leung Kwok-hung, and Wong Yuk-man from the League of Social Democrats and Alan Leong and Tanya Chan from the Civic Party re-elected to the LegCo after their resignation to call for a de facto referendum on universal suffrage.
Other changes
2008 Lau Wong-fat (Heung Yee Kuk), Jeffrey Lam (Commercial), Andrew Leung (Industrial) and Sophie Leung (Textiles and Garment) – Liberal Party members withdrawn on 8 October 2008, and later on founded a new group called Economic Synergy in 2009. Priscilla Leung (Kowloon West) – joined the Professional Forum which was formed on 8 October 2008 by the members of the Alliance. Emily Lau (New Territories East) – Convenor of the Frontier became a member of the Democratic Party when the groups merged on 23 November 2008.
2010 Andrew Cheng (New Territories East) – withdrawn from the Democratic Party to oppose the Party's decision of backing the controversial electoral reform proposals on 23 June 2010.
2011 Regina Ip (Hong Kong Island) – formed the New People's Party and became the chairman on 9 January 2011.