Political standoff at Hong Kong Government Legislative Council

Hong Kong's legislature faced further delays on Friday amid a dispute between two groups within the legislative council.

Legislator Dennis Kwok has sustained criticism from the Chinese Communist Party and the Hong Kong government, with his group being accused of stalling the work of the Legislative Council over the last few months.

Pro-establishment politician, Starry Lee, is preparing to try to gain control of the Legislative Council process on Friday, with the Hong Kong government backing her, citing legal advice.

Legislators rallying behind Dennis Kwok have raised crowd-funded money to get their own legal advice, supporting their position.

Starry Lee was the Chairman of the crucial House Committee last year, and Dennis Kwok the Deputy Chairman.

Now Starry Lee is standing to be reelected as Chairman, and that should be the first order of business for the committee.

But for months, legislators have delayed the vote.

Pro-establishment legislators have accused their opponents of filibustering in order to prevent the House Committee from carrying out routine business, including the passage of a controversial new law that would make it a crime to insult the Chinese national anthem.

The Chinese government's liaison office in Hong Kong weighed into the dispute last month, accusing legislators of filibustering.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has repeated the accusation, and this week said that the Legislative Council must "rectify itself."