Hong Kong elections: China’s top legislative body leaning towards allowing lawmakers banned from polls to serve in extended Legco session: sources

Postponement of Legislative Council elections has been formally added to the standing committee agenda, with a decision expected on Tuesday
While some pro-establishment lawmakers believe legislators barred from the next polls should be allowed to work through an extension, many more think otherwise

National People's Congress (NPC)

Kimmy Chung

Published: 12:53pm, 8 Aug 2020

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China’s top legislative body is leaning towards allowing all incumbent Hong Kong lawmakers – including the four disqualified from the next elections – to serve out an extended year of the city’s Legislative Council, the Post has learned.

The National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) on Saturday formally placed the “continuation of Hong Kong’s sixth Legco” on its agenda, as it kicked off a four-day session in Beijing, during which it planned to issue a decision on the potential power vacuum created by the delay, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Explainer: What next for Hong Kong’s Legco? Beijing meeting will decide if lawmakers continue for an extra year until polls

“Incumbent lawmakers would have the chance to stay, for the moment … after going through certain procedures like signing the declaration form or taking oaths,” a source familiar with the NPCSC meeting said.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the NPCSC’s decision would only outline broader principles, then hand it over for the Hong Kong government to act upon and determine the details.

Whether four lawmakers disqualified from the next Legco election can remain in office during an extended term will be decided by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, which began a four-day meeting on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua

According to the CCTV report, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Xia Baolong on Saturday presented a resolution to the NPCSC, with the State Council expressing support for postponing the elections.

“A timely decision from the NPCSC on the power vacuum of the legislature ... is very necessary to ensure the normal operation of the Hong Kong government and the society, and to maintain the prosperity and stability in Hong Kong,” the report said.

Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor last week cited the Covid-19 pandemic as grounds for postponing the elections, originally scheduled for September 6, adding she had written to the State Council, which requested that the NPCSC handle the matter.

When its four-day session concludes on Tuesday, the standing committee is expected to issue a directive on outstanding legal and constitutional questions surrounding the delay, such as whether Legco’s four-year term can be extended, or if a provisional legislature can be established, and how that could be done.

A day before Lam announced the postponement, electoral officials invalidated the candidacies of 12 opposition hopefuls, citing their political stances.

Hong Kong elections: opposition torn between boycotting Legislative Council and sticking around to stage fierce fight

Those barred from running included four incumbent lawmakers – the Civic Party’s Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, Dennis Kwok and Kwok Ka-ki, and accountancy representative Kenneth Leung.

Views were split among the city’s pro-establishment camp as to whether the four should be allowed to continue serving as legislators in the coming year.

NPC deputy Wong Kwan-yu, who was in Beijing to attend the NPCSC meeting, said he backed the idea of allowing the four to stay.

“In the coming year, the government should concentrate our energy on combating Covid-19 and economic recovery, so the simplest solution for the ‘vacuum period’ would be the best,” Wong said.

But he said he merely expressed his opinion to the NPCSC and could not predict the final result. A decision will be announced on Tuesday.

If the extension of the Legco term is due merely to the pandemic, why should we create more troubles?

Bernard Chan, suggesting those barred from the Legco polls be allowed to sit for an extended term

Another NPC deputy, Bernard Chan, who has not flown to Beijing, said he also agreed the four should stay, adding: “If the extension of the Legco term is due merely to the pandemic, why should we create more troubles?”

But Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong’s sole delegate to the NPCSC, earlier said keeping the four in the legislature would create conflict.

“We don’t care what the US is doing … all of us agree that a postponement is needed under the serious pandemic outbreak, and the coming decision would be in accordance with the constitution and laws,” Tam said, when asked about the impact of US sanctions.

Meanwhile, the opposition camp planned to meet again on Sunday to discuss how to deal with the coming decision. Localists have urged pan-democrats to quit en masse in protest, especially if the disqualified lawmakers are not allowed to stay for the extended term.

Lawmaker Eddie Chu Hoi-dick said he was open to any ideas, saying the camp had to figure out the path that would “cause the biggest trouble” to the Communist Party of China.

Additional reporting by Gary Cheung and Tony Cheung

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Four barred lawmakers ‘could serve extra year’

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