Political situation
Written by: Peng Zhuowei
2020-08-01 07:00
Last update date: 2020-08-01 07:00The new crown pneumonia epidemic in Hong Kong has become more and more serious. The government announced that the Legislative Council elections held in September this year will be postponed for one year and will not take place until September 2021.
In order to solve the problem of "vacuum" during the legislative session, it is reported that the government will submit a resolution of the NPC to extend the current legislative session for one year. After going through the oath and the "DQ" case, there are currently 4 vacancies in the Legislative Council. If the term of the Legislative Council is extended by one year, does it mean that the EAC will have enough time to conduct by-elections for the vacant seats?
There are currently 4 seats vacant in the Legislative Council, leaving 66 members in the current Legislative Council temporarily. (Profile picture)
The current parliament was originally composed of 70 members. However, after Liang Guoxiong was disqualified as a member during the oath in 2016, he has been appealing, and his seats have been vacant. At the same time, Ou Nuoxuan and Fan Guowei have also been proposed by Zhou Ting and Liu Weikuang. The election petition was successful, but was ruled "not properly elected" and immediately lost his seat in December last year.
The Legislative Council gazetted the vacancies on January 3 this year. The EAC later pointed out that according to the Legislative Council Ordinance, by-elections for seats cannot be held within 4 months before the end of the current term of the Legislative Council, that is, the deadline is May this year. 31st or before. The EAC explained that considering the unprecedented challenges encountered in the district council elections last year, and it was expected that the preparations for the by-election would take more than six months, no by-election could be arranged at that time.
The last vacant seat was the original seat of the labour sector, appointed by the Deputy Secretary of the Labour and Welfare Bureau, Ho Kai-ming, in May this year. At that time, the seat was also close to the general election, and there was no time for a by-election. The four seats have been suspended so far, leaving only 66 members in the current Legislative Council.
Chen Kaixin. (Fb portrait)
Chen Kaixin was ruled improperly elected due to appeals
In addition, Chen Kaixin, who was elected in the 2018 Legislative Council Kowloon West by-election, was also ruled as "unproperly elected" because the court ruled in May that the election petition filed by Liu Xiaoli won, but Chen decided to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal. Hearing was not scheduled, and the status of a member was temporarily retained. If Chen Kaixin loses the lawsuit, he will immediately lose his seat. Under the premise that the election is postponed for one year, it is unknown whether a by-election is also required?
News: Depends on how Lam Cheng extends the term of the Legislative Council
It is understood that since the current term of the Legislative Council will end on September 30, there are currently three possibilities for how to extend the year. The Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will quote the Legislative Council Ordinance and request the Legislative Council after the term of the Legislative Council is over. The chairman convenes an emergency meeting and the one-year "provisional legislative council" appointed by the central government. Under these two circumstances, the four-year legislative council is deemed to have ended in disguise, and the EAC will not hold by-elections for vacant seats.
However, if the government submits a resolution of the National People’s Congress to extend the current Legislative Council for another year, in other words, from October 1 this year to September 30 next year will be the fifth-year term of the current Legislative Council. In the additional year, The EAC will have sufficient time to hold a by-election. However, the source pointed out that because there is no precedent to follow, the next step can only be decided after the government officially announces the election and tenure arrangements. It is still too early to say.
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