The Law Society is against its president Ambrose Lam, and Beijing could set strict rules on Electoral Reform
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No-Confidence Vote Vs. Law Society Chairman
The Law Society of Hong Kong passed a vote of no confidence against its president Ambrose Lam last Thursday, following his comments on Beijing’s “one country, two systems” white paper. Lam said that he saw nothing wrong with the assertion that judges should be “patriotic.” Commentators had expected Lam’s camp to prevail, but 2,392 members of the Law Society voted in favor of the motion and 1,418 voted against, a surprisingly significant margin. The result was met with applause, which brought the three proposers of the vote to tears. The Society’s constitutional and human rights committee member Kevin Yam said lawyers can finally be proud of their profession: “There are still many lawyers in Hong Kong willing to stand up for their principles.” Lam declined to say if he will retract his comments and resign.
Our take: Who knew? Lawyers aren’t just bloodsucking opportunists. They’re principled bloodsucking opportunists.
Beijing Could Set Strict Rules on Electoral Reform
Newspapers have cited an anonymous source on the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, saying that the Committee will propose that candidates for the 2017 Chief Executive election will have to secure support from at least half of the nominating committee to run. The decision is said to stem from Beijing’s concerns for national security. This high threshold would produce just two CE candidates. The government expects that the proposal will fail in the Legislative Council, and that Occupy Central will go ahead, reported Ming Pao. OC co-organizer Chan Kin-man confirmed that the civil disobedience movement has entered preparation stages.
Our take: Months and months of talk about different proposals, and it’s all come down to this?!