Coronavirus: what about mass testing? Outspoken lawmaker considers no-confidence motion against Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam over policy U-turn

An outspoken pro-establishment lawmaker is considering moving a no-confidence motion against Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor for what he called her flip-flopping policy on universal testing to tame the coronavirus epidemic.

If Junius Ho Kwan-yiu’s motion is tabled it will be the first one initiated by a pro-establishment legislator against a chief executive since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

But his idea has received a lukewarm response so far, with no Legislative Council members openly supporting the move and one lawmaker, who wished not to be named, calling it “merely a political stunt”.

Ho, a lawyer and non-affiliated legislator, floated the idea to express his anger at Lam’s suspension of a proposed universal testing drive, saying preparations, including new quarantine facilities and laboratories supported by mainland Chinese authorities, had gone down the drain.

“We trust the [Hong Kong] government because we wholeheartedly trust the central government. But now you’ve told us things won’t be carried out according to what you had said … Tell us then, should we listen to you or not?” Ho said a press conference on Tuesday in support of small and medium enterprises struggling under the city’s strict Covid-19 measures.

“There’s only a spokesman for the government called the chief executive who seems to have a lot of spare time coming out every day and talking hogwash as golden scripture … I feel disgusted seeing her face,” he said, referring to Lam’s daily press briefings on the coronavirus situation.

Ho accused the chief executive of a lack of overall planning, foresight, resolution and determination in the face of the Omicron-fuelled fifth wave of infections, which has claimed the lives of more than 6,000 people. He urged residents to “hold Lam accountable” and push her to spell out a clear policy direction.

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Covid-19: Hong Kong to open schools, lift flight ban, cut quarantine time and suspend mass testing

Covid-19: Hong Kong to open schools, lift flight ban, cut quarantine time and suspend mass testing