Attempts to probe alleged abuses by Hong Kong police fizzle as district councils told they are overstepping authority
- Two government sources say pushback from the Security Bureau has played a key role in seeing the fledgling committees quashed
- One opposition councillor claims double standard, citing passage of motions on citywide issues by pro-Beijing councils in the past
From the start, the government has insisted the new committees were incompatible with the powers granted by the city’s District Councils Ordinance.
Councillors, meanwhile, have argued local councils are seeing their powers restricted simply because they are no longer in the hands of pro-establishment lawmakers.
Riding on the momentum of months of anti-government protests, the pro-democracy camp captured an unprecedented 392 of 452 total seats in November.
Swept into power on the back of anger directed at the government, a number of councils set about establishing committees to investigate police use of force, a focal point of that anger.
More than 7,000 Hongkongers have been arrested in connection with violent protests that saw the hurling of petrol bombs and bricks and the use of other weapons by protesters.