Hong Kong opposition will only listen to own supporters in Legislative Council survey ‘to avoid outside interference’

Name: Hong Kong democrats plan poll on whether lawmakers should serve extended Legislative Council terms
Uploaded: 2020-09-04T07:55:33.000Z
Duration: 1 min 30 s
Description: Hong Kong democrats plan poll on whether lawmakers should serve extended Legislative Council terms

Camp split over whether to serve for extended term after Beijing backed decision to delay elections

Survey will be conducted by Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute and focus on small sample of city’s population

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Hong Kong lawmakers will serve an extra term after the Legislative Council’s session was extended following the cancellation of this year’s elections. Photo: Nora Tam

Natalie Wong

Published: 3:55pm, 4 Sep 2020Updated: 11:02pm, 4 Sep 2020

At least 15 opposition lawmakers in Hong Kong have decided they would resign if more than half of their supporters called for the move, rather than relying on the views of all residents over serving an extended term in the legislature.

They were among those within the bloc who wished to remain, but have adjusted the threshold to “avoid interference” from pro-government supporters who might not welcome them, as they tried to bridge the rift with colleagues bent on leaving.

The two factions continued to debate the matter, with just two weeks to a survey to gauge the views of supporters.

Lawmakers face a dilemma as to whether they should remain in the Legislative Council, after China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, approved the city government’s decision to delay elections for not less than one year.

On Friday, after a week of deliberations, the “stay” camp, and the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, which will conduct the survey, announced a simplified and lowered threshold that at least 15 incumbents have agreed to abide by.

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Hong Kong democrats plan poll on whether lawmakers should serve extended Legislative Council terms

Instead of taking the views of two-thirds of supporters as proposed earlier, the 15 pan-democrats would resign if more than half of their supporters wanted them to do so, according to Wu Chi-wai, chairman of the Democratic Party, which commissioned the poll.