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Legislative Council oath-taking sagai

In October 2016, controversy arose in Hong Kong's Legislative Council as localist lawmakers-elect Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching and others were accused of failing to properly take their oaths of office.

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With no dissenting voices, the swearing-in ceremony for members of the Legislative Council was uneventful, but now those lawmakers must prove they can meet the daunting challenges ahead.

Pan-democrats hide their political moderation, their most valuable asset, from anti-government radicals and, in the end, make themselves irrelevant to both sides.

  • Kenneth Chen will retire next year after more than a decade as secretary general of Legco secretariat
  • Legco president Andrew Leung praises Chen for his efforts over the years, especially in overcoming ‘numerous challenges’ in previous term

Hong Kong’s newly elected legislature descended into open war with localists brandishing “Hong Kong is not China” banners at their swearing- in ceremony, while a pro-establishment stalwart was elected president after being taken to task over his British nationality.

Proceedings pass without any of the improper oath-taking antics of the 2016 ceremony, though two lawmakers-elect ordered to repeat their vows over missing words.

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The ‘arbitrary’ disqualifications ‘prevent people in Hong Kong from participating meaningfully in their own governance’, US State Department spokesman says.

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Former Democratic Party lawmaker Roy Kwong among 16 unseated by home affairs chief on Thursday, with total number of municipal-level opposition politicians removed for not being patriotic enough rising to 55.

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Caspar Tsui backs looking at the ‘direction’ of district councils following reports of a pending overhaul of the electoral system for the municipal-level bodies.

Sixtus Baggio Leung is challenging at the Court of Final Appeal his conviction for unlawful assembly, when he barged into a Legco meeting to try and take his oath.

Councillors who ran in opposition’s unofficial primary, offered their offices as polling stations, or threatened to vote down government, are at risk of unseating.

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Foreign ministry calls on London to withdraw its asylum offer to Nathan Law, describing the decision as ‘gross interference’ in Hong Kong’s judicial system.

A handful have already made up their minds to resign and others are weighing it, worried that even if they did take the oaths, they would later be ruled invalid.

The court made its declaration after Sixtus Baggio Leung ignored orders to return some HK$930,000 he received from the legislature prior to his ousting in 2016.

Analysts say unlike her previous announcements, this year’s speech by Carrie Lam left many questions unanswered and lacked eye-catching initiatives.

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Carrie Lam says changes will be made to oath-taking laws to align them with Beijing’s recent resolution that led to unseating of opposition legislators.

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Hongkongers must be pragmatic and realise the central government will not tolerate any aggressive actions or advocating for Hong Kong independence. It is time to discuss with Beijing what the remaining years under ‘one country, two systems’ will look like.

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