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Legco by-election 2018
Opinion
Alex Lo

My TakeStop this farce, let Au Nok-hin get on with the job

It’s truly bizarre that both the localist and pro-government camps are challenging the election of the pan-democrat on Hong Kong Island

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Candidate Au Nok-hin (right), who won the Hong Kong Island constituency for the Legislative Council By-election, shakes hands with one of his voters in Shek Tong Tsui. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Alex Loin Toronto

Suddenly, people on opposing sides want to challenge pan-democrat Au Nok-hin for his by-election victory for the Hong Kong Island seat in the legislature. 

That’s from both the localist and pro-government camps. Can politics get any more bizarre? 

With help from former pro-Beijing lawmaker Wong Kwok-hing, a taxi union leader, Wong Tai-hoi, has applied for a judicial review challenging both Au and the government’s returning officer for allowing him to run in the by-election.

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The filing rests on an incident in which Au was seen burning a copy of the Basic Law during a protest and which supposedly proved his unwillingness to uphold the city’s mini-constitution and pledge allegiance to Hong Kong to qualify as a legislator.

Judy Chan Ka-pui shows an image of Au Nok-hin burning a copy of the Basic Law, in a televised debate. Photo: Facebook
Judy Chan Ka-pui shows an image of Au Nok-hin burning a copy of the Basic Law, in a televised debate. Photo: Facebook
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Au has responded by blasting the claim as “outrageous” on the ground that he was merely burning a printout of a cover page from the Basic Law. But isn’t every copy of the Basic Law a copy, in which case you can, arguably, never burn the “real” Basic Law? It’s the symbolism, Mr Au.

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