Hong Kong: Hecklers dragged out in new parliament chaos

  • 2019-10-17 13:58:22
Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam has been heckled by opposition lawmakers for a second day as she tried to answer questions in parliament. After shouting and holding up placards, 11 opposition members were removed from the session by security guards. On Wednesday, Ms Lam was forced to suspend her annual policy address after she was interrupted by opponents. Hong Kong has seen months of mass protests against the government, sparked by a proposed extradition law. The opposition forms a small minority in the Legislative Council (Legco) but managed to repeatedly interrupt Ms Lam, forcing the session to be adjourned several times. Some of the ejected lawmakers were holding white flowers to express solidarity with people injured during months of demonstrations. As they were dragged out, they shouted: "Carrie Lam you should not stay on as chief executive! You are not qualified." Her critics in the session accused her of not addressing the political crisis in her policy speech the previous day. Ms Lam dismissed the allegations, insisting her policy proposals about Hong Kong's housing crisis were in fact addressing pressing social concerns. On the protests which have engulfed the city for months, she reiterated that people should abstain from violence and solve disagreements within the spirit of the rule of law. The chief executive also said the city was facing economic recession and that her government would offer subsidies to affected businesses.

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