The political infighting between the Democratic Party and the League of Social Democrats continued yesterday, during the second day of legislative debate on the 2012 political reform proposals. What follows is a partial summary of the day’s proceedings, gleaned from the Ming Pao text feed.

Miriam Lau (FC-Transport; Liberal Party) argued that the Chief Executive Electoral Committee should be expanded to 1600 people (instead of the proposed 1200). She added that, after the proposals were passed, the electoral base of the functional constituencies must be broadened.

Priscilla Leung (Kowloon West; Professional Forum [nee the Alliance]) proceeded to condescend to the younger generation as romantic idealists deserving of particular protection, in the course of condemning such “extremist” measures as the legislative by-elections from May.

James To (Kowloon West; Democratic Party) argued that the addition of “Super District Council Functional Constituency Groups” would make it increasingly difficult to reduce the number of functional constituencies. He further argued that the current proposals would numb the populace and erode the impetus towards full universal suffrage and were only acceded to by the Central Government to maintain social harmony. In speaking, To (citing an unnamed official) referred to widespread rumours that NPC Standing Committee member Rita Fan had commenced preparations for a Chief Executive bid. However, To confirmed that he would remain in the Democratic Party.

Lam Tai-fai (FC-Industrial; Independent) expressed concern that the Central Government Liaison Office (which had taken a leading role in negotiations with the Democratic Party) would become a second government for Hong Kong and that subsequent disputes would be referred directly to Beijing. Lam criticised the Government’s publicity campaign in favour of the reform proposals and expressed concerns as to the requirement that candidates for Chief Executive have no party affiliations and as to the number of nominations required for District Council Functional Constituency seats.

Chan Kam-lam (Kowloon East; DAB) compared the protesters outside Legco to Thailand’s “red shirts” and argued that extremist conduct would not garner international support. [Palmerston: This from a Royalist party which routinely condemns foreign intervention in domestic affairs.]

Leung Kwok-hung (NT East; LSD) attempted to distance his party from his personal attack on Szeto Wah on the 23rd, saying that the dispute between him and Szeto was a private matter. Later in the day, however, fellow LSD member Raymond Wong Yuk-man (Kowloon West) publicly distanced the LSD from the Democratic Party. Wong, in implicitly blaming the Democratic Party for the pan-Democratic schism, stated that he knew the LSD would inevitably be marginalised.

A recurring theme amongst Functional Constituency was the implicit assertion that functional constituencies would - or should - remain a permanent legislative fixture. Paul Tse (FC-Travel; Independent) argued that Western methods were not necessarily best suited to Hong Kong. [Palmerston: The hackneyed - and long-since discredited - “Asian Values” argument.] Vincent Fang (FC-Wholesale and Retail; Liberal Party) argued that functional constituencies were not merely present to protect vested interests and denied that their existence had led to increased collusion between Government and Big Business. Fang further argued that bias was not exclusive to functional constituency legislators and voiced concern that the wholesale abolition of functional constituencies would adversely impact Hong Kong’s economy. Philip Wong (FC-Commercial; Independent) complained that, despite the functional constituencies having endorsed Government proposals for many years, they had never been recognised by Government for their efforts. Not surprisingly, Wong argued that functional constituencies should be preserved. Others speaking in favour of the role of functional constituencies included Samson Tam (FC-IT; Independent) and Jeffrey Lam (FC-Commercial; Economic Synergy).

Another recurring theme amongst Royalist legislators was trenchant criticism of the SAR Government’s conduct. In addition to Vincent Fang (see above), Regina Ip (HKI; Savantas) noted that the Government campaign had been an abject failure and referred to the routine resort to “cheat sheets” by officials. Miriam Lau noted that the Democratic Party had achieved what even the Liberal Party could not and claimed that, had the Liberal Party suggested the same modified proposal, they would have been summarily ignored. Wong Kwok-kin (Kowloon East; FTU/DAB) echoed Regina Ip’s complaints and seized on the debate between Donald Tsang and Audrey Eu as a situation where the Government chose to put itself in a poor position. Tellingly, Wong criticised the Government for treating the Royalist parties as litter-bearers. Lam Tai-fai blasted the Government for urging the public to “weigh anchor” on a two-man canoe carrying only Government and the Democratic Party and said that the DAB could, at best, hope to cheer them on from the sidelines.

Civic Party legislators Tanya Chan (HKI) and Alan Leong (Kowloon East) warned that the Devil was in the details and criticised the hasty, 11th-hour manner in which the Democratic Party’s proposals were adopted. Both legislators slammed the proposals for entrenching the vested interests represented by functional constituencies.

The actual vote on the Chief Executive electoral proposal (which took place in the early afternoon) was almost anticlimactic, with 46 votes in favour and 13 against (Tsang Yok-sing [HKI; DAB] as Legco President not voting).