Hong Kong pan-democrats slam disqualification ruling, accuse government of ‘rewriting election results’
Decision sparks outrage from pro-democracy lawmakers who vow to appeal their cases, as Chief Executive Carrie Lam says she will not halt the legal proceedings
The court’s ruling, which declared the oaths of office taken by the four were not valid because they were not “faithful” or “solemn” in pledging allegiance to China, sparked a strong reaction from the camp, with the four vowing to appeal their cases.
“The National People’s Congress has, through the interpretation, rewritten the election results in September last year,” Leung said at a press conference on Friday. “This can’t happen in any place with true democracy.”
At another event on Friday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was asked whether she would intervene and stop the proceedings, which were started by Leung Chun-ying. She said “no”.
Lam, who assumed office just two weeks ago, has vowed to improve the administration’s relationship with the legislature, which turned sour under Leung.
Asked if the court’s ruling would make this more difficult, Lam said: “Building bridges has to be done in accordance to the law. The chief executive should not compromise the rule of law just to be friendly.”
She said the government would wait until the whole judicial process was completed before organising by-elections to fill the four vacated seats.
The other three who are newly disqualified are Nathan Law Kwun-chung, Lau Siu-lai and Edward Yiu Chung-yim.
Minutes after the judgement was handed down, the Legislative Council’s finance committee chairman Chan Kin-por suspended the committee meeting and ordered the four to leave immediately. He adjourned the meeting to Saturday after the four refused to comply.
