Democracy activist Joshua Wong slams ‘politically driven decision’ to bar him from running in Hong Kong district council election
- Former student leader of the 2014 Occupy movement ‘cannot possibly’ comply with election laws, says government, citing his former advocacy of self-determination
- Wong, who had made clear he did not support the option of independence, is the only candidate disqualified from November 24 polls
Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung has been banned from running in the coming district council elections because he has not changed his stance on independence, the Hong Kong government says, a move the former student leader denounced as a directive from Beijing.
Wong was the only candidate disqualified from the polls, to be held on November 24, on the basis of his political stance.
Even though the government said there was no political censorship involved in the decision, commentators said the ruling showed Beijing’s determination to isolate Wong from other activists in the camp.
The government said in a press release on Tuesday that decisions on the nominations of all candidates had been made.
Without naming Wong, it said: “The candidate cannot possibly comply with the requirements of the relevant electoral laws, since advocating or promoting ‘self-determination’ is contrary to the content of the declaration that the law requires a candidate to make to uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the HKSAR.”
The election officer said that Wong had tried to “mislead” the public in stating he had changed his stance, pointing to his statement that he still supported the idea of a non-binding referendum on self-determination, with independence as one option.