Hong Kong legislation head: budget debate ends on Tuesday

Whilst the Legislative Council (Legco) remained stagnant in passage of the fiscal budget for the city, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Finance John Tsang vented disappointment over the delay, and described the Hong Kong government as a “vault without key.

Heated debate for the approval of the fiscal budget went on in the Legco on Monday. Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang insisted that the final vote on the 2013-14 budget will be taken on Tuesday, and warned the councilors not to make unrelated speeches to stall the passage of the budget.

Several radical councilors blasted Jasper Tsang for illegally cut off filibustering, which requires two-thirds of lawmakers’ votes.

The president rejoined that it would be against the Basic Law if he does so, quoting the Basic Law annex regulating the Legco's voting procedures. He said the passage of motions introduced by individual lawmakers required more than half the votes in each geographical and functional constituency.

Japsper Tsang noted that about 55 hours had been spent debating the first 17 amendments by the time he made the decision.

All 710 amendments to the budget bill had been vetoed in Legco last week as the government edged away from the possibility of running out of cash by next mont

On the other hand, The financial secretary John Tsang said the government is like a "vault without the key" in his blog, because that “key is in the hands of lawmakers whose permission is needed for every cent of public money to be spent.

"The government has to seek Legco’s approval for every cent they spend," he wrote in his blog. "From this point of view, the government is like a vault without the key and each lawmaker is a Key Man holding the key."

"After approving the budget, the government still has to complete a succession of legal and executive procedures before distributing the funds to the government departments and statutory bodies, said John Tsang. “These include a range of alleviation measures, such as an extra month’s allowance for recipients of social security and the old age allowance, as well as the electricity subsidy.

John Tsang said lawmakers have the responsibility to carry out their duties well and to ensure smooth public services provision.