Wong Yuk-man retakes oath of office to Legco
After People Power lawmaker coughed through first attempt, he ends pledge with slogans
People Power lawmaker Wong Yuk-man has finally taken his Legislative Council oath of office - after a second attempt.
Instead of skipping key words in the oath by coughing at strategic moments as he did the first time, Wong started by praying "for God to forgive him for making a dishonest oath", but was stopped by Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing.
Wong then proceeded to read out part of his oath in different tones of voice. For example, in the Cantonese phrase yan man gung wo gwok, which means "People's Republic", he read out some words in an unusually loud voice while pronouncing the others in a hushed tone.
When he had completed the oath, he went on to shout slogans: "Down with the Hong Kong communist regime, down with [Chief Executive] Leung Chun-ying." He was again quickly stopped by Tsang, who asked him to return to his seat.
But Wong's second attempt at taking the oath was not without controversy. Independent pro-government lawmaker Paul Tse Wai-chun criticised Wong's manner of oath-taking, asking Tsang to judge whether Wong had legally completed the oath.
"Wong was taking his oath in an unwilling manner," said Tse. "He held the Bible in his hands and [tried to] ask God to forgive him. It was completely insincere. It will seriously hurt the integrity of the legislature."