Among opposition supporters, it’s a widespread belief that the government launched lawsuits to disqualify six of their lawmakers – for failing to swear their oaths of office properly – to steal their elected majority in the Legislative Council.

In other words, the nefarious scheme of the previous administration of Leung Chun-ying was to achieve a super-majority – in both the geographical and functional constituencies – for its Legco friends. Let us remember, though, that the pan-dems have always been in the minority within the functional section, which represents social, professional, industrial and religious groupings.

There is no doubt that the central and Hong Kong governments, and their allies in Legco, would love to have a rubber-stamp legislature for the next four years. But realistically, that’s not possible, unless you ban by-elections as well. That, alas, is not an option, even for Beijing.

My guess is that the pan-dems will, one way or another, regain their majority in the geographical constituencies after the by-elections. But what they will lose – and this is a big loss for them – is their ability to filibuster against government bills. Assuming government-friendly lawmakers – with their temporary super-majority – don’t squander this golden opportunity, they will move to change voting procedures in Legco. This could mean restricting lawmakers from asking too many questions for too long and empowering committee chairmen to shut them up.