Pan-democrat gets approval of candidacy for Hong Kong district council elections, sparking accusation authorities are censoring leaders at random

Vincent Lam, whose candidacy was confirmed on Tuesday, says big names such as Joshua Wong were perhaps being targeted

Seemingly inconsistent treatment by returning officers come as nominations for the district council seats are expected to close on Thursday

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Tiffany Yuen, whose nomination for the district council elections was validated on Wednesday, says a returning officer cannot have a say on who can get seats in the council. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 9:38pm, 16 Oct 2019Updated: 10:58pm, 16 Oct 2019

At least one pan-democrat district council hopeful has had his candidacy for November’s elections approved despite posting protest slogans, sparking accusations the authorities are using their power to censor candidates arbitrarily.

A former core leader of Demosisto, a political party that advocates self-determination for Hong Kong, also had her candidacy approved, it emerged on Wednesday.

No questions were asked of either about their political stances.

Earlier in the week, other pro-democracy activists received letters from returning officers seeking explanations of their stances, including Joshua Wong Chi-fung, former student leader Tommy Cheung Sau-yin, independent Billy Chan Shiu-yeung and pan-democrat Liu Qing.

Last year, Wong’s party colleague, Agnes Chow Ting, was barred from running in a Legislative Council by-election on the grounds that Demosisto advocated self-determination.

Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has received a letter from returning officers seeking explanation of his stance. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

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