Hong Kong’s pan-democrats ready to defend Eddie Chu from any attempt to remove him from legislature
- Chu was disqualified from a rural committee election on Sunday
- A pro-Beijing politician has called for him to be removed from Legco too
Pan-democrats said on Monday they were ready to defend their ally Eddie Chu Hoi-dick against a possible attempt by the rival bloc to unseat him from Hong Kong’s legislature.
The camp is expected to have enough votes to block such a move, but members expressed worries that political vetting on similar grounds could be used in elections, including next year’s district council polls.
Chu was disqualified on Sunday from running in a rural committee election. The returning officer said it was because of Chu “implicitly confirming his support” for the city’s self-determination, which is seen by some as a cover for independence advocacy.
Following the disqualification, Stanley Ng Chau-pei, a local delegate to China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, called for Chu to be removed from his seat in the Legislative Council.
“Chu’s pro-independence ideas violated his oath in Legco. The government should launch the process to strip his lawmaker status,” Ng, who also chairs the Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), wrote on his social media account on Sunday night.