Disqualifying localist Legco candidates lets politics ‘eat into’ legal system, former Bar Association chair says
Edward Chan King-sang says courts, not electoral officials, should make calls on whether candidates faked pledges
The government’s decision to disqualify localist candidates from running in next month’s Legislative Council elections will have a “long and deep” negative impact on Hong Kong’s legal system, former Bar Association chairman Edward Chan King-sang said yesterday.
Chan’s comments came as outgoing lawmaker Emily Lau Wai-hing of the Democratic Party, wrote a letter yesterday to the Human Rights Committee under the United Nations about the “disturbing development”, condemning the rejections and calling on the committee to “take urgent action”.
Electoral officials had cited the candidates’ pro-independence stance as against the Basic Law, and that they did not “genuinely” respect and uphold the mini-constitution even after some had signed a declaration stating so.
Chan said if supporting Hong Kong independence was a crime and candidates were found guilty by the court, they could be disqualified even after they were elected.
Therefore it should also be up to the court, not electoral officers, to decide whether candidates had faked their pledges.
“[Faking pledges] is a very serious accusation,” said Chan in a Commercial Radio programme. “The legal system should be the one to decide whether candidates are guilty of this.”