Minutes - 18th Meeting Of Exco

CONFIDENTIAL

The Civic Party 18th meeting of the Executive Committee Date: July 25, 2006 (Tuesday) Time: 6:30 p.m. Venue: Party HQ Present: (1) Joseph Cheng Yu Shek (Acting Chairman), (2) Claudia Mo Man Ching, (3) Bill Lay Yan Piau, (4) Margaret Ng Ngoi Yee, (5) Vincent Ng Wing Shun, (6) Chan Ka Lok, (7) Thomas Yu Kwun Wai, (8) Amy Yung Wing Sheung, (9) Mandy Tam Heung Man In Attendance: Tsang Kwok Fung, Wong Man Lai (Margaret’s assistant) Items

Action

Part A - Confirmation of Minutes 1. Agenda Members endorsed the agenda as distributed. 2. Minutes of the Last Meeting Members approved the minutes of the last meeting. 3. Matters Arising from the Minutes a. Covert Surveillance Margaret reported that she had prepared a series of CSAs to the proposed Covert Surveillance Bill which had already been submitted to the President of LegCo for her approval for debate in the LegCo meeting. The main focus of the CSAs was the “sunset clause” which would set August 8, 2008 as the expiry date of the bill. These CSAs also suggested that the government should review the bill with a public consultation exercise before its expiry. She suggested that if these CSAs were to be voted down, the party should vote against the proposed bill. Members agreed. Minutes of 18th ExCo meeting 25/07/06

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b. Review of DC Reform Consultation Bill reported that the proposed DC reform consultation forum had been cancelled in anticipation of a low turnout. The task force, however, had successfully arranged a meeting with Carrie Lam, the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, on the coming Friday morning. It was suggested that members should meet the press after the meeting. Members also endorsed another position paper tabled by Amy which would be submitted to the government in her own capacity as a District Councillor.

Bill

Part B – Items for Discussion 4. Proposal of a Roadshow of CP’s Hundred-Days Report a. Wong Man Lai, Margaret’s assistant, presented a proposal of a roadshow of CP’s hundred-days report, with an emphasis on the work of the party’s LegCo members. The proposed date of the show would be from September to December 2006 with a series of CP familiarization programmes. A variety of activities were proposed, including a roadshow, district tea gatherings, a website design competition and an essay competition (see enclosed paper). b. Members agreed that the party should adopt the proposal in principle and decide on its detailed implementation at a later stage. Emphasis on LegCo members’ work would be a good choice; their assistants might be involved in preparation in this regard. Another priority would be the appeal to our younger generation. CAO was asked to co-ordinate the implementation of the proposal with Claudia’s fund-raising team.

CAO, Claudia

5. Institute of Public Services a.

Margaret reported that she had prepared a paper on the establishment of the Institute of Public Services (paper to be released to ExCo member by her). She said that Professor Edward Chan was still keen regarding the project while Denis Chang could help in fund-raising. She proposed that the party could do a trial run with a two to three-month course enrolling only members and Friends of the Party. Various topics had been

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proposed for the course, including Hong Kong’s legal system, Hong Kong’s political system, etc. The course should commence in mid-September and graduates would be awarded certificates. b.

Members expressed concern over whether there would be sufficient participants for the course. The secretariat was asked to consider how to promote the course and its enrollment. The size of the class should be limited to 30 or 40 persons. CAO was asked to follow up on the enrollment and promotion.

Margaret, CAO

6. GST a. Mandy reported that she had met Fred Ma with PL to discuss the GST on July 19. She observed that the government was half-hearted in launching the GST, and the government’s argument on the need to broaden the tax base was inadequate, while many interest groups and political parties had shown their opposition already. b. Members considered that the government had not responded to the queries raised by the general public, and that the public sentiment against the GST was very strong. Some members also expressed their concern that the party’s current position had been misunderstood by the public. People at the grassroots level thought that the party would support the GST. Some members strongly advocated that the party should make its position clear to the public that the party had grave reservations about the government’s GST proposal. PL, CAO c. It was agreed that the party should hold a press conference to clarify the party’s position after Party leader and Ronny had returned to Hong Kong. It was also agreed that PL should write a letter to the government stating the party’s grave reservations about the proposal. The proposed date of the press conference would ideally be either August 4 or August 5. Part C – Reports to Note 7.

Chairman’s Announcements

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There was no announcement at the meeting. 8.

Party Leader’s Report No party leader’s report was available at the meeting.

9.

S-G’s report The S-G’s written reports were noted. The following issues were discussed: a. Retreat for ExCo The only guest speaker secured for the retreat was Wong Ka Ying from CUHK, as NDI representatives and Leo Goodstadt would not be available. Margaret and the S-G would continue to look for a second speaker. Members noted.

Margaret, SG

CAO b. Party Members’ Retreat The party members’ retreat would be held on September 16 (Saturday) at BGCA. CAO would follow up on its organization. c. Workshop for DC Candidates The party’s workshop for DC candidates was scheduled on September 9 (Saturday). An exchange of experiences and views between district branches would be held before the workshop (noon – 2 p.m.). d. Grand Opening The grand opening of the party premises was re-scheduled till the end of September. e. Offices for District Branches Mandy urged the party to consider the financing of NTW and KLW branches to set up their own offices. This would be taken up in the next ExCo meeting. Amy f. Meeting with Muslims in Hong Kong Amy indicated that she had some connections with a few local Muslim groups who were interested to talk to the party. She would arrange a meeting with Ka Lok, Bill and Claudia who indicated their interest to Minutes of 18th ExCo meeting 25/07/06

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meet the groups. 10. Branch/Committee Chairpersons’ Reports The reports from the KLE, KLW and NTW branches were noted. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m., followed by dinner.

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