Politics
Written by: Lin Jian
2019-12-17 12:12
Last updated: 2019-12-17 12:13Last week's Hong Kong Chi Zhi Ting and the former convener of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Liu Kuang Kuang applied for the by-election of the Legislative Council last year, but was disqualified by the Returning Officer. The two subsequently filed an election petition. District Nuoxuan and Fan Guowei were ruled "not duly elected". District and Fan successively applied for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal. The court refused to approve it today (17th), and they immediately lost their qualifications as members of the Legislative Council.
The two later responded to the ruling out of court. Au Nuo Xuan described the current election system as "crazy", and the wrongdoing of the government's Returning Officer must be borne by the elect and voters. He believes that the loopholes in this system need to be filled.
Fan Guowei also pointed out that the wrongdoing of the Returning Officer this time lies with the government and should not be borne by him and 180,000 voters in the New Territories East. As for whether he will participate in the by-election later, he said that no final decision has been made.
Ou Nuoxuan (left) and Fan Guowei (right) responded to the ruling outside the court. (Photo by Zhu Xixin)
District Nuoxuan: Institutional madness should plug loopholes
Nuo Xuan pointed out that the current electoral system in Hong Kong is "crazy". The government has made administrative mistakes and misbehaved. Instead of "finding", it is up to the elect to bear the consequences. He believes that this should not be the case. He mentioned that the case of Liu Shanqing in 1995 laid the groundwork for challenging the RO's power to "pick and choose". Only election petitions can go through judicial review. However, if the candidate is DQ (disqualified) and wants to seek justice through an election petition, the only result is to expel a public opinion representative.
Ou Nuoxuan believes that the government will be more fearless when this case is opened. DQ candidates can be reckless. If the candidates are not satisfied with the petition, they may have to DQ (disqualify) a new candidate again. The issues facing the camp, it is recommended that the legal community study how to plug this loophole.
Zhou Ting filed an election petition last year on the Hong Kong Island by-election. (Profile picture)
Fan Guowei: Working with Democrats "with Honor"
Fan Guowei pointed out that the current electoral system is indeed flawed. This ruling means that the past two years of parliamentary careers have stopped. Pedestrians feel that they can cooperate with other democratic lawmakers during this time. However, he pointed out that this will not shake his decision on the democratic movement. In the future, he will be different from Qu Nuoxuan, but he will continue to contribute to the anti-revision movement. He also thanked District Nuoxuan for sharing the experience with the newcomers without self-election and selflessly before and after the district board elections.
Fan Guowei also pointed out that he was disappointed with the ruling because the government's mistake was to bear the consequences of the elected person. He also mentioned that since this is the ruling of the Court of Final Appeal, the legal procedure can be done. As for whether he will participate in the by-election, he said that it is considering but has not made a final decision. Fan Guowei also pointed out that the most urgent issues to consider now are how to deal with the closure of parliamentary offices and whether employees are properly protected.
Yingying Kuang welcomed the ruling. (Profile picture)
Liu Yikang: Welcome the ruling. It is a pity that the two democratic parties lost seats.
Liu Yingkuang, who filed a petition on the results of the New Territories East elections, welcomed the ruling, which established the principle that the illegal decision of the Returning Officer would invalidate the election. He believes that this principle is very important, because although the people elected in this election are democratic, there will be more "illegal elections" that will benefit from the establishment, such as Chen Kaixin from Kowloon West. He called on the Returning Officer to stop political selection of candidates in the future, otherwise, if there are further election petitions, it will only lead to a greater constitutional crisis.
Liu Yikuang also pointed out that although this election petition ended in invalidating the election, he still feels very uncertain whether the locals can regain lost political rights in the future and believe that Hong Kong people still need to fight to the end for a true democratic system.
Regarding the loss of seats by two Democrats, Mr Liu expressed deep regret. He praised Au Nuo Xuan and Fan Guowei for their hard work during the protest movement, especially Mr. Au Nuo Xuan has helped in the past, no matter in processions and rallies, or in front-line conflicts. He is convinced that even if the roles change, the two will continue to advance with the Hong Kong people in the democratic struggle, and wish the two to return to parliament in future legal elections without DQ.
[DQ Review] The Final Court refused to approve the approval of Fan Guowei and Quo Nuoxuan lost seats.
[DQ review] The appeal was not approved or the seats were lost. Fan Guowei District Nuoxuan: The democracy movement will not change.
[DQ review. Reasons for appeal] District Nuo Xuan claims that the cancellation of his seat is equivalent to depriving voters of their rights
Nuo Xuan Fan Guowei
