Lawmaker proposes amendment to end Hong Kong chief executive's exemption from law on gifts and advantages

Labour Party lawmaker Cyd Ho Sau-lan has drafted a private member's bill calling on the government to extend bribery laws to cover gifts and advantages offered to the chief executive.

"If it is the government policy to crack down on corruption, how can the chief executive alone be exempted?" Ho said.

There is little chance of her bill being passed in the Legislative Council, however, given the dominance of pro-establishment lawmakers.

Ho's move comes two weeks after the Independent Commission Against Corruption arrested former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and charged him with misconduct relating to an agreement he struck to lease a penthouse in Shenzhen.

But the lack of any legal action in response to Tsang's alleged acceptance of yacht and private jet trips from tycoons prompted renewed calls for Leung to honour his post-election promise to subject himself to the same restrictions on gifts and advantages that apply to all civil servants.

Under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, any civil servant who solicits or accepts an advantage without the permission of the chief executive is guilty of an offence. But that means the chief executive himself cannot be covered by the legislation.