Green light for by-election replacement for Agnes Chow but another young activist barred from contest
Au Nok-hin, whose eligibility was in doubt, is cleared to run in the March 11 election but another young activist has been barred from contesting the New Territories East seat
Electoral officials on Wednesday gave the green light to the candidate put forward by Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp to replace activist Agnes Chow Ting in the March 11 by-election.
Au Nok-hin, a southern district councillor, had submitted nominations for his candidacy on Saturday as part of a backup plan by the city’s political opposition after officials rejected Chow on the grounds that her party, Demosisto, had called for “self-determination” for Hong Kong.
That aim was deemed incompatible with electoral rules introduced to curb advocacy for Hong Kong to break away from Chinese rule.
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But even as they confirmed Au as a candidate, election authorities quashed another young activist’s bid to contest the New Territories East seat, on the grounds that he had expressed “apparent reluctance” to denounce his earlier stance of supporting Hong Kong independence.
In a letter sent to Ventus Lau Wing-hong on Wednesday, Amy Chan Yuen-man, the returning officer for the constituency, said she was not satisfied that he had ditched his previous position, even though he had earlier made a declaration saying so.
Chan cited a number of statements Lau posted on Facebook in 2016 – where he reiterated his support for Hong Kong independence – as well as a statement made in December where he made a U-turn.
Both Lau and legal scholars slammed the decision and argued that the government should not trawl through what a hopeful had said in the past to decide if they were eligible candidates.
