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Chairman (in Cantonese):—We now vote on the amended motion first. Will the Secretary count the votes, please? Yes, I see that the Secretary has a question. Please ask it first.
SECRETARY (in Cantonese):—According to the minutes, a Member has to attend the meeting for more than 45 minutes or 60% of the meeting in order to be counted as present at the meeting. One Member cannot meet this requirement. As this is now time to vote, we have to decide. In accordance with Section 23 of the Standing Order on ballots, majority votes will be carried. The two are related issues. We must therefore reach a decision.
Mr. KAM Nai-wai (in Cantonese):—I want to know if in the past, Members seated in our Chamber were counted as present. I also want to know how you discharged your duty as Chairman under such circumstances. Could you please give a clear answer to this, Mr. Chairman?
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):—From my experience of more than ten years, there had never been one meeting that went on until 7:05 pm. That is the first point.
The second point. Never before did the situation of a Member not having attended a meeting for 45 minutes at the time of voting arise. I am now faced with this situation and I do not have experience dealing with it. I am now thinking of the question asked by the Secretary. Mr. Steven HUNG Chung-fun, do you want to speak?
MR. STEVEN HUNG CHUNG-FUN (in Cantonese):—If this is a valid point, assuming that a meeting lasts less than 45 minutes, do I understand that all those present will be considered not present? Does it mean that Members will not be allowed to vote during the first 45 minutes of a meeting? That is my first point.
Another point I want to make is how we are supposed to know what will happen when the meeting is still on-going. I appreciate the Secretariat bringing this up, but I do not think it should be taken as a guiding practice.
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):—I would respond to Mr. Steven HUNG. Assuming that a meeting lasts 3 minutes, 60% would be 1.8 minutes. So presence at the meeting for 1.8 minutes will make one's attendance effective.
MR. LEE KWOK-KEUNG (in Cantonese):—This is wrong. We should not count presence on the attendance rate. Say, there is a voting procedure 5 minutes into a meeting and a member leaves shortly afterwards. Will his vote be counted? The attendance will not be counted, but the vote is counted. The rationale is that the member has voted as a Member. How should that Member know he has to leave soon afterwards? The 45 minutes rule can only signify effective attendance.
Page 159 of 654
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Page 159 of 654
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Page 159 of 654
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Chairman (in Cantonese);—We now vote on the amended motion first. Will the Secretary count the votes, please? Yes, I see that the Secretary has a question. Please ask it first.
SECRETARY (in Cantonese):—According to the minutes, a Member has to attend the meeting for more than 45 minutes or 60% of the meeting in order to be counted as present at the meeting. One Member cannot meet this requirement. As this is now time to vote, we have to decide. In accordance with Section 23 of the Standing Order on ballots, majority votes will be carried. The two are related issues. We must therefore reach a decision.
Mr. KAM Nai-wai (in Cantonese):-I want to know if in the past, Members seated in our Chamber were counted as present. I also want to know how you discharged your duty as Chairman under such circumstances. Could you please give a clear answer to this, Mr. Chairman?
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-From my experience of more than ten years, there had never been one meeting that went on until 7.05 pm. That is the first point.
The second point. Never before did the situation of a Member not having attended a meeting for 45 minutes at the time of voting arise. I am now faced with this situation and I do not have experience dealing with it. I am now thinking of the question asked by the Secretary. Mr. Steven HUNG Chung-fun, do you want to speak?
MR. STEVEN HUNG CHUNG-FUN (in Cantonese):-If this is a valid point, assuming that a meeting lasts less than 45 minutes, do I understand that all those present will be considered not present? Does it mean that Members will not be allowed to vote during the first 45 minutes of a meeting? That is my first point.
Another point I want to make is how we are supposed to know what will happen when the meeting is still on-going. I appreciate the Secretariat bringing this up, but I do not think it should be taken as a guiding practice.
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):—I would respond to Mr. Steven HUNG. Assuming that a meeting lasts 3 minutes, 60% would be 1.8 minutes. So presence at the meeting for 1.8 minutes will make one's attendance effective.
MR. LEE KWOK-KEUNG (in Cantonese):-This is wrong. We should not count presence on the attendance rate. Say, there is a voting procedure 5 minutes into a meeting and a member leaves shortly afterwards. Will his vote be counted? The attendance will not be counted, but the vote is counted. The rationale is that the member has voted as a Member. How should that Member know he has to leave soon afterwards? The 45 minutes rule can only signify effective attendance.
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