Hong Kong Legislative Council sets up panel on whether to boot pro-democracy member Ted Hui from his seat
Regina Ip tables censure motion, which will eventually go to full vote, but is unlikely to pass
Hong Kong’s legislature has set up a panel to look into whether pro-democracy member Ted Hui Chi-fung should be removed from his seat over his phone-snatching antics, after no lawmaker opposed the move to do so.
New People’s Party chairwoman Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee tabled the motion at a meeting of the full Legislative Council on Wednesday.
Hui, of the Democratic Party, was arrested in early May for snatching a civil servant’s phone and then running into the gents’ toilets on April 25, during a Legco meeting on the controversial joint checkpoint plan for a cross-border high-speed rail link.
He was accused of four offences: common assault, dishonest access to a computer, obstructing a public officer in the execution of her duty, and criminal damage, of a piece of paper containing a list of lawmakers’ names.
“As a member of the Legislative Council, I think it is necessary to move the censure motion ... to tell society that Legco will not give cover to [Hui’s] acts, which fall short of the public expectation,” Ip said on Wednesday.
She criticised Hui’s “violent” conduct, arguing that he had not genuinely reflected on his wrongdoings.