Hong Kong bureaucrats should not decide whether candidates can run in election – that’s a job for lawyers, says Bar Association chairman Philip Dykes
City’s top silk suggests taking job away from returning officers would remove suspicion of political interference
The head of Hong Kong’s representative body of barristers has called for judges or senior lawyers, rather than lower-ranking bureaucrats, to be given the authority to vet election candidates.
On Monday, Bar Association chairman Philip Dykes ramped up criticism of the way in which an electoral official banned an opposition candidate from contesting a by-election next month for a Legislative Council seat, without giving her a chance to argue against her disqualification.
Speaking in a personal capacity, Dykes said the returning officer in question was almost relying on “divination” when he rejected ousted lawmaker Lau Siu-lai’s candidacy last week, on the grounds that she had not given up her stance in favour of self-determination for Hong Kong – a controversial but ambiguous concept amid the crackdown on independence advocacy.
“What’s disturbing about this case is, we understand if candidates are independence advocates, but self-determination? They are not quite the same thing,” Dykes said.
“Self-determination may fall within the context of the [legal] system and ‘one country, two systems’. We have yet to hear the concept explained fully, but it’s not necessarily incompatible with the sovereign state.”