Security law to be done in timely manner: Legco chief
Legco President Andrew Leung on Friday said there is no deadline for the Legislative Council to complete the city's homegrown national security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law.  This came as lawmakers pledged to enact the law as early as possible. Leung said it was a great responsibility and honour for lawmakers to be part of the legislative process, adding that such work would be done "step by step".  "It's up to the bills committee to do the work. I'm sure the bills committee will do everything possible to speed up the process," he said.  Leung also defended what some called the swift legislative process, pointing to the necessity of safeguarding national security.  "If you look at other countries, they enact [relevant laws] within days, two weeks, three weeks. Why can't Hong Kong do it in a speedy manner?"  The DAB said its lawmakers sitting on the bills committee will vet the bill in details in a speedy and dutiful manner, aiming to finish the legislation as soon as possible.  "We believe that we should spare no effort to get the laws enacted as soon as possible, because the sooner we can plug the loopholes on safeguarding national security, the better we are, and then we can focus on developing our economy," said lawmaker Holden Chow.  Echoing the DAB, Joephy Chan from the Federation of Trade Unions said Hong Kong is ready for Article 23 national security legislation.  "We have a big enough consensus to introduce the bill at the Legislative Council as early as possible. The earlier we have the [bill] passed, the earlier we can focus and concentrate on economic development, which is the first priority we can see from the general consensus," she said.  New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip and legislator Lai Tung-kwok, who are both members of the bills committee, pledged to use their experiences as former security ministers to scrutinise the draft legislation, to help it passed as soon as possible. The Liberal Party, for its part, said the law would create a safer development environment for Hong Kong, enhance the confidence of local and overseas investors, and attract more investors to establish their regional or international headquarters in the city. The Business and Professionals Alliance said the passage of the legislation would help ensure social stability, and allow the government to then focus on improving the economy and people's livelihoods. On when would be a good time to enact the legislation, lawmaker Junius Ho believed it would be "quite ideal" for it to take effect on National Security Education Day on April 15.  "Judging from the efficiency... I don't think it would take too much time to finish it, so maybe in the middle of April would be a realistic guess," he said.