Chief Executive Carrie Lam said her administration will table amendments to the local laws to the Legislative Council as soon as possible, as Beijing’s rubber-stamp parliament will discuss details on changing Annex 1 and 2 of the Basic Law for the electoral overhaul in Hong Kong early next week.

After having passed a proposal to overhaul Hong Kong’s electoral system on March 11, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee has scheduled a special two-day meeting next Monday and Tuesday to hammer out the details.

Lam said her administration will speed up the drafting of the relevant amendment bill, but it is “rather impossible” to table the amendments to the Legislative Council on next Wednesday.

“I would not think that just because most lawmakers are pro-establishment, they don’t have to scrutinize the bill or will pass it very quickly,” Lam said on Tuesday before her weekly meeting with the Executive Council. As the city is expecting three important elections in the next 12 months, the government will race against the clock and LegCo will also prioritize the electoral changes over other bills, she added.

Lam also further clarified that Beijing had never “instructed” her administration to “crack the hard nut” of housing, land and the wealth gap, after the government issued a statement on Monday night to contradict Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung’s remarks in an interview with Financial Times. The central authorities were just “showing care and support,” she reiterated.

Robert Reed, head of the U.K.’s supreme court and a non-permanent judge in Hong Kong’s top court, said last week he will quit if Hong Kong’s situation reaches a point that they can no longer “serve with good conscience.” Lam found his declaration “neutral” and said the use of “if” confirmed that the judicial independence or the judges’ decisions have not been interfered by the administrative power.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play