New | Senior Hong Kong officials should resign over Beijing’s reform decision: lawmaker

Senior Hong Kong officials including Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor should examine their consciences and resign in a bid to make Beijing reconsider its tough restrictions on the vote for the city’s next leader, a pan-democrat lawmaker says.

Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit said the drastic move was needed to rescue Hong Kong’s chances for greater democracy needed to solve the city’s governance crisis.

“If they were unsuccessful in persuading [Beijing], one of the options available is to leave and show their disappointment,” Leong told RTHK.

On Sunday, Beijing announced that two to three candidates would be allowed to contest the chief executive election in 2017, and hopefuls would need approval from a simple majority of a 1,200-strong nominating committee to qualify for the election.

Candidates that Beijing does not want on the ballot paper would be screened out on national security grounds.

The decision sparked protests, with pro-democracy lawmakers vowing to block the government’s plan in the Legislative Council if it followed Beijing’s framework.

Activists announced that an “era of civil disobedience” had begun at a large rally on Sunday evening.