Starry Lee Wai-king, incumbent chairperson of the Legislative Council's (LegCo) House Committee, was reelected to the post on Monday with 40 votes.

Lee's election was preceded by hour-long chaos in LegCo.

At least 11 opposition lawmakers had been expelled from the chamber by noon before a semblance of order could be restored around 11:50 a.m. after nearly an hour of chaos. No opposition lawmaker voted in Lee's election.

Pro-establishment lawmaker Chan Kin-Por, took the chairman's seat in the meeting as instructed by LegCo President Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen.

Scuffles broke out on Monday between opposition and pro-government legislators in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in a row over procedures with the leadership of the crucial House Committee at stake. 

The house committee's role is to scrutinize bills before a second reading in the legislative council and has built up a backlog after failing to elect a chairperson since late last year. The backlog includes a bill that would criminalize abuse of China's national anthem.