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and demands a further discussion to be made, then the number of open meetings, like the one held today, will be unnecessarily greatly increased.
(2) Members of this Council all have their own business to take care of. If the number of open meetings is drastically increased, the clash of meeting hours with their normal working hours would inevitably raise the number of absentees, thus losing the intended meaning and value of discussing matters in an open meeting and, furthermore, making the public lose their interest in the motions put forward by a minority of Councillors who do so merely for publicity purpose. Such being the case, the position of the Council in the mind of the public would be even poorer.
Moreover, according to past records, Mr. BERNACCHI absented himself from meetings on far more occasions than any other Members, not to say his frequent practice of early resignations from meetings. Hence, if his motion is passed, and if his way of doing things remains unchanged, wouldn't it just mean an encumbrance to others?
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English): -I now ask my friend to withdraw that remark. I demand that he withdraws that remark.
CHAIRMAN (in English): -Excuse me. Your objection will be noted.
DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG (in Cantonese): -Before I said this, Mr. Chairman, I checked with the Secretary and checked his attendance.
MR. BERNACCHI (in English): -Yet the Standing Order states clearly that a personal attack on a Member is not allowed except on a substantive motion. What Dr. HUANG is doing is making a personal attack on me in flagrant breach of the Standing Orders unless, of course, the Standing Orders have been amended in Standing Committee without my knowledge.
CHAIRMAN (in English): -Mr. BERNACCHI, it is true that, if a personal attack is made, it is in breach of Standing Orders. But, if remarks are made in the context of a debate, and they are not of a derogatory nature, they are not in breach of Standing Orders. I would like to suggest that we hear Dr. HUANG out and if his remarks are in any way completely prejudicial to your interest, then they will be struck off the record.
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DR HUANG (in Cantonese):
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(3) If the Council is to efficiently and smoothly carry out its work, then there must be mutual trust among members. Therefore, the decisions made after discussions by the Select Committees must be respected.
If Mr. BERNACCHI's motion is passed, the feeling and the sense of responsibility of members attending Select Committees would inevitably be affected. This would do no good but harm to the Council and the public in general.
(4) Any Councillor who holds a different view on the decision of any Select Committee, may put forward their opinions at the two meetings of the Standing Committee every month; if he still thinks differently on the decision of the Standing Committee, he may voice his opinions in other venues or even organize various types of mass meetings. In this respect, I trust that Mr. BERNACCHI knows far more than I do.
It would be unfair and meaningless if we adopted this motion and forced Members of this Council to listen at an open meeting to the opinions that had already been raised and now repeated by one or two Members who held different views on the matter.
Chairman, as you know, Mr. BERNACCHI is the primus inter pares among elected Councillors in this Council but regrettably, because he is obviously being busily engaged in his own business, he, more often than not, could not spare time to take part at the various meetings of the Council. During the past seven years of my working in the Council, I did not find him even for one occasion convening meeting of the elected councillors (I know that appointed councillors have their meetings for several times in a month whereby they can exchange their opinions), and that is why he fails to command leadership among the elected councillors thereby pushing them into the so-called "leaderless" situation. This is much to be regretted. I am sure that if Mr. BERNACCHI can make use of his rich knowledge and wide experience and spend more time on some practical work of the Council, and raise suggestions that are of a constructive nature, then his contribution to the Council and the public would be even greater.
Chairman, I object to the motion.
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