Hong Kong students plan referendums in fight to remove chief executive as university chancellor and limit 'political retaliation'

Referendums will be held at eight local universities as student activists seek to amend the laws that make the city's chief executive the chancellor of their universities and allow him to appoint his allies to the institutions' governing bodies.

The plebiscites would follow a controversial decision last month by the University of Hong Kong's council to reject liberal scholar Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun's candidacy for a key managerial post. The vote sparked public outcry over the university's autonomy. Fears were revived last week after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying appointed Beijing loyalists to Lingnan University's council.

"The government has turned the universities' councils into its own 'back garden' via personnel appointments," said Alan Wong Ka-fai, a deputy secretary general of the Federation of Students, which is coordinating the upcoming polls.

"[The councils] have become a place to distribute political rewards … and conduct political retaliation."

The university ordinances stipulate that the chief executive is chancellor of all public universities and authorise him to appoint council members.

READ MORE: Johannes Chan's appointment never discussed with HKU chief, says Hong Kong chief executive CY Leung

The referendums, which are to be carried out separately by the eight universities' student unions before next February, will seek students' opinions on the need and means to amend the ordinances, including the possibility of removing the chief executive as chancellor and increasing the proportion of student and staff representatives on governing bodies.