Why Hong Kong’s Beijing loyalists don’t want democracy activists kicked out of elections

Alarm rises that government might end up helping opposition politicians win seats

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The pro-democracy camp airing their concerns on Friday at the Legislative Council in Tamar. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:59pm, 26 Jan 2018Updated: 10:21am, 29 Jan 2018

Pro-establishment heavyweights, including top advisers to Hong Kong’s leader, have challenged the justification for any move by the government to ban two pro-democracy activists from running in the Legislative Council by-election in March.

While some of them fear it may end up helping opposition politicians win seats, the pan-democrats also warned that the potential disqualification of the two candidates from their camp could have far-reaching implications as it would be tantamount to political vetting of Legco polls by the government.

The eligibility of Agnes Chow Ting and Edward Yiu Chung-yim to run in the March 11 by-election is currently the subject of much speculation and uncertainty.

Rift in Hong Kong’s political opposition grows as camp fails to agree on backup candidate

Pro-Beijing constitutional experts argue that Chow’s candidacy is at risk as her party, Demosisto, has backed the idea of “self-determination” for Hong Kong when all candidates must declare they accept the city as an inalienable part of China.

Yiu’s eligibility is unclear as he was among six pan-democrats stripped of their Legco seats last year for improper oaths of office. They were kicked out of the legislature by the city’s courts shortly after the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, China’s top legislative body, interpreted the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, to disqualify them.

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng declined to meet the pan-democrats on Friday. Photo: Winson Wong

As both camps set about rethinking their election strategies to cater for the possibility of the two disqualifications, the pan-democrats on Friday also turned up the heat on justice minister Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah for turning down a request to meet them over the issue.

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