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Opinion | Loss of an opposition in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council is a tragedy for the city
- Whether you blame the democrats for quitting or the government for putting them in that position, the vacuum in Legco discredits the Basic Law. It can only be hoped that the democrats will return when elections are held next year
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On the night Hong Kong returned to China, leading democrat Martin Lee Chu-ming stood on the balcony of the old Legislative Council building with fellow members of his party and vowed: “We shall return!”
His speech, to the cheering crowds below, followed the disbanding of the legislature by Beijing, in retaliation for the last governor Chris Patten’s electoral reforms. It was replaced by the provisional legislature, a body established by the central government’s Preparatory Committee and chosen by 400 people. The Democratic Party refused to join the body on principle.
For almost a year there were hardly any opposition voices in the city’s legislature. Now, 23 years after the handover, history is repeating itself. Four pro-democracy lawmakers were disqualified by the government last week after a ruling by Beijing. The opposition camp’s remaining 15 legislators quit in protest. Legco has become an echo chamber.
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These developments have serious consequences for the city’s political system and rule of law.
The four disqualified lawmakers were barred by election officials from standing in Legco polls scheduled for last September, mainly because they were deemed to have called for foreign governments to sanction Hong Kong.
04:08
Hong Kong opposition lawmakers to resign en masse over Legislative Council disqualifications
Hong Kong opposition lawmakers to resign en masse over Legislative Council disqualifications
But the government deferred the election for a year, citing the Covid-19 pandemic, and sitting legislators were allowed to continue. This left the four democrats – Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, Dennis Kwok, Kwok Ka-ki and Kenneth Leung – in place. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor suggested in the summer there was no legal basis for disqualifying them. In other words, to do so would be unlawful. That should have been the end of the matter.
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