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Hong Kong election officials can block candidates based on political views but must ensure clear evidence, court rules
Potentially defining judgment comes after petition by Andy Chan, who was disqualified from 2016 poll
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A Hong Kong court ruled against a pro-independence activist in a landmark case on Tuesday, determining that election officials could ban candidates because of their political views but only when presented with “cogent, clear and compelling” evidence they would not uphold the Basic Law.
To come to such a conclusion, returning officers must give aspirants a “reasonable opportunity” to respond to their concerns, the judge said in a ruling with legal ramifications on the recent disbarment of election candidates such as activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung’s comrade Agnes Chow Ting.
On Tuesday night, Chow said she planned to appeal against the decision to ban her from contesting the coming March 11 by-election allegedly for her party’s stance on self-determination.
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Among three hopefuls barred this time, Chow and another potential candidate, Ventus Lau Wing-hong, were disqualified before being offered a chance to explain themselves.
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Since 2016, all aspiring election candidates must submit a separate declaration in their nomination forms that they pledge to uphold the Basic Law, recognising that Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China.
Andy Chan Ho-tin, convenor of the Hong Kong National Party, was among several aspirants banned from the 2016 Legislative Council elections because the returning officer decided he did not mean what he pledged in the declaration over the city’s mini-constitution.
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