Hong Kong elections: candidates deemed ‘unpatriotic’ will be told disqualification reasons, No 2 official says, vowing transparency

Chief Secretary John Lee also suggests unseated opposition district councillors can still try for future polls as eligibility reassessed on every application

Former security minister is also the newly appointed chairman of the powerful vetting committee that will ensure candidates are no threat to national security

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Newly appointed Hong Kong No 2 official John Lee. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 1:03pm, 10 Jul 2021Updated: 2:06pm, 8 Sep 2021

Candidates deemed not patriotic enough to run in coming Hong Kong elections will be informed of the reasons behind their disqualification, the city’s No 2 official has said, pledging to ensure transparency in the mandatory vetting process.

Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu also suggested that opposition district councillors who might be unseated in an oath-taking process this month could still try for future polls, including the race for seats in the legislature, as their eligibility would be reassessed on every application.

Lee, also the newly appointed chairman of the powerful vetting committee established to ensure election candidates pose no threat to national security, said he would ensure sufficient transparency in the process.

“The public will know how many people have applied to run in the polls, and who are the remaining candidates after the vetting process. We will also notify candidates and the public on reasons for disqualifications,” Lee told a radio programme on Saturday.

A Yau Tsim Mong District Council meeting in progress. The opposition bloc is facing a cull of its members in these municipal-level bodies under a new oath-taking rule. Photo: Felix Wong

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday appointed four officials and three pro-Beijing figures as members of the vetting committee – created as part of a drastic overhaul of the city’s electoral system – to screen out candidates deemed “unpatriotic” or a threat to national security. Key political events on the horizon include polls for the next chief executive, the Election Committee and the Legislative Council.