Since the National People’s Congress Standing Committee passed the decision to allow the present-term Legislative Council to serve at least another year as a result of the pandemic, some of our LegCo members have found themselves in something of a political limbo.  

 In its decision, the NPCSC did not, as many political analysts had expected, disqualify the four incumbent LegCo members who had been found unfit to run as candidates in the election originally scheduled for Sept 6.

As a result, there has been speculation as to why the NPCSC stopped short of disqualifying these four LegCo members, and indeed whether it was the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government’s idea in the first place to allow all LegCo members to serve in the extended term.

On the question of “why”, it begs the question of whether it is fair to allow current LegCo members who have failed to fulfil their duties in their current term, and more specifically the four who were disqualified to run in the election, to stay for another year, and likely continue to flout their legislative responsibilities.

If they were barred from running for another term, should they even be allowed to extend their current terms until the postponed election takes place? I must also point out that these disqualifications were the result of careful consideration by the returning officers of the Electoral Affairs Commission.

At present, everyone’s top priority is to battle the third wave of COVID-19 and to rescue businesses. LegCo needs to work with government on all policies and measures needed to fight the pandemic

Beijing was asked to address the legal question of Article 69 of the Basic Law, which states that the term of office of LegCo shall be four years. The NPCSC did exactly that, and extended the term of the present LegCo session by at least a year as Hong Kong’s current priorities are to rescue its failing economy and continue battling the pandemic. 

But this decision has interesting political ramifications. The “pan-democrats” who have long been split into the moderate and radical camps, have since locked horns over whether they should serve the extended term.

The radicals claim that the decision of the NPCSC was tantamount to “appointing” all LegCo members to serve the extended term and that the electorate, when they voted the members into LegCo, gave only a four-year mandate.

The opposition camp has since considered, then dropped, a threat to resign en masse. The moderates are now in a bind, not able to clearly defend their position except to say that they could play “a useful role” in the extended term. As usual, public opinion is split down the middle on this issue, and the moderates stand to lose more ground to the radicals in their internal bickering.

The “pan-democrats” will have time to sort out their differences, as if the pandemic and the economy woes had gone, as LegCo is still in its usual summer recess. On this matter, I implore all of LegCo to resume work as soon as possible. Given the state of emergency and extraordinary circumstances we currently find ourselves in, LegCo must get back to work forthwith to address the needs of businesses and the people alike.

There is so much to be done, and no one can truly rest until Hong Kong is back on its feet. And everyone — the people included — must put aside their political differences to rebuild our city from the ground up.

At present, everyone’s top priority is to battle the third wave of COVID-19 and to rescue businesses. LegCo needs to work with government on all policies and measures needed to fight the pandemic.

A case in point is the government’s failure to properly implement the controversial dine-in restriction that caused much upset and resulted in an embarrassingly instant U-turn.

Additionally, the government will probably have to present to LegCo for approval proposals for special and emergency funding to secure employment, save businesses and support the medical and health sector. 

But the pandemic will not fill up the diaries of our LegCo members. Surely they will have time for the other general duties in the day-to-day running of government. There are still many laws that need to be passed, and projects including infrastructure and housing that have yet to be approved.

Moreover, members will have to review and probably amend LegCo’s rules and procedures again with a view to streamlining them in some way, cutting red tape and responding swiftly to the needs of the public.

To put it bluntly, there is too much to be done, and taking the normal summer recess will simply be irresponsible. Pro-establishment LegCo members should also be reminded that support could slip if they do not measure up to the people’s expectations. 

The pandemic is not going to disappear anytime soon. Business survival and employment are very much at stake. Time is not on anyone’s side, so we must use everything we have got to save whatever can still be saved. This also means that both the moderates and the radicals in the opposition camp have to decide sooner rather than later if they want to be in, or out.

The author is president of Wisdom Hong Kong, a think tank.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.