National People’s Congress might step in to interpret Basic Law if oath-taking case ends up in Court of Final Appeal, scholar warns
Think tank vice-chairman Professor Lau Siu-kai says Legco president reversed decision to let two lawmakers swear in again to avoid offending Beijing
The National People’s Congress might eventually have to interpret the Basic Law if the case involving the swearing in of two localist lawmakers ended up in the Court of Final Appeal, a Hong Kong academic warned.
Professor Lau Siu-kai, vice-chairman of the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, also said on Wednesday that the new Legislative Council president would offend Beijing if he let duo retake their oaths.
But the pair – Youngspiration’s Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching – have vowed to force their way into the meeting nonetheless.
Speaking on a RTHK programme on Wednesday morning, Lau said that the Legco president’s reversal was a “painful” decision made to strike a balance between the demands of the pro-establishment camp and the opposition forces, and “deliver the least harm”.
“If he did not change the decision, he would offend Beijing, the SAR government, all pro-establishment lawmakers and the public will,” Lau said.
The scholar said he did not rule out the possibility that Beijing would come forward if the situation escalated to an extent that posed a threat to national security.
“The SAR government would definitely appeal to a higher court if it lost the judicial review in the Court of First Instance.”
“There is no question that the government will ask the court to request an interpretation of the Basic Law by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee by then,” he added.