Setback for campaigners trying to end Chinese University link to student federation
Too many signatures on petition needed to trigger referendum are invalid, council rules
Campaigners seeking to end the affiliation of Chinese University students' union with the Federation of Students, the leading player in the Occupy democracy protests last year, suffered a setback yesterday.
They failed to gather enough valid signatures to trigger a referendum on the breakaway, said a representative of the university's student union council.
The federation rose to prominence last year during the 79-day protests, but some member unions accused its leaders of acting too hastily and failing to consult them.
Disaffiliation advocates at Chinese University had gathered 873 signatures, but about a quarter were ruled invalid or could not be verified.
"Some 57 signatures stated information which does not match the official records," said council chairman Timothy Lee Hin-long. "That includes the students' name, year and department. Another 38 told us they never signed the petition for a referendum."
There were also students who had forgotten ever signing, and dozens more who could not be reached by the council on the phone for verification.
After deducting the doubtful signatures, there were fewer than the 809 minimum required to trigger a referendum.
Lee said the council would meet tomorrow to decide the next step.
The group behind the Chinese University disaffiliation campaign apologised to supporters on its Facebook page and said it planned another petition. It disagreed with the council's stance on phone call verification, saying it was not a procedure adopted by other universities.
Lau Wing-hong, a member of the Chinese University Local Society, who supports disaffiliation, hoped the council could hold a referendum in September. He said some students could have forgotten as their signatures were collected some time ago.
Unions at the University of Hong Kong, Polytechnic University and Baptist University have already broken from the federation. Five universities now remain in the federation, including City University, which will stage a referendum this week.
The federation is trying to make the organisation more open and democratic to stop unions from quitting.
