All pro-democracy Hong Kong MPs on Wednesday announced their next resignation after the ousting of four of them under a measure adopted by Beijing, which would leave the parliament almost entirely in the hands of parliamentarians aligned with the China.
These resignations are the latest blow to the pro-democracy camp, which has been the subject of relentless attacks since Beijing imposed a national security law at the end of June.
Many activists have since been arrested while others have chosen exile.
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“
We (members) of the pro-democracy camp will stand alongside our colleagues who are excluded.
We will resign en masse,
”said Wu Chi-wai, head of the fifteen pro-democracy lawmakers remaining in the local parliament.
On Wednesday morning, four pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmakers were removed from their terms after permission was given to local authorities by one of China's main legislative committees to dismiss any lawmaker deemed a threat to national security without even go to court.
This decision was immediately condemned by the British government, which sees it as "
a new attack on the high degree of autonomy and freedoms of Hong Kong,
" British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said in a statement.
Amnesty International Asia-Pacific Director Yamini Mishra lamented "
another example of the Chinese central government's campaign to muzzle dissidents in the city by all means
".
The ouster of these four deputies came two days after the threat brandished by twenty or so pro-democracy opposition lawmakers to resign "
en masse
" in the event of the exclusion of their colleagues.
The Legislative Council (LegCo, the local parliament) has 70 members appointed according to a convoluted system that almost certainly guarantees a majority for the pro-Beijing bloc.
Only 35 are indeed elected by direct universal suffrage, offering a rare opportunity for 7.5 million inhabitants to express their opinion through the ballot box.
The other legislators are mainly appointed by socio-professional groups acquired in mainland China.
The resignation of pro-democracy will almost entirely leave the LegCo in the hands of deputies aligned with Beijing.
"
If the respect of procedures, the protection of systems and functions and the struggle for democracy and human rights resulted in exclusion, it would be an honor for me,
" Dennis Kwok told reporters on Wednesday. one of the four excluded deputies.
- "
Constitutional and legal
" -
For her part, Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam argued that these exclusions are "
constitutional, legal, reasonable and necessary
".
The four elected officials were among the 12 candidates for the Hong Kong legislative elections invalidated at the end of July.
These elections, which were to take place on September 6, were finally postponed for a year due to coronavirus.
The exclusion of these four deputies is the latest blow to the pro-democracy camp which has been the subject of sustained attacks since Beijing imposed the national security law at the end of June, described by Chinese leaders as "
a sword
" hanging over the heads of his detractors.
This legislation, intended to put an end to months of monster and often violent demonstrations which rocked the territory last year, helped to considerably strengthen the grip of the Chinese central power on Hong Kong.
Many activists for democracy denounce a liberticidal text.
The impossibility for the Hong Kongers to elect their leaders as well as all their deputies was at the heart of their protest movement.
More than 10,000 people have been arrested since the protests began and the courts are overwhelmed with the number of cases to be tried, most of them involving opposition MPs as well as figures from the pro-democracy movement.
Critics of the National Security Law, which was passed bypassing the LegCo, deal a fatal blow to the “
One Country, Two Systems
”
principle
at the heart of the Hong Kong handover agreement to China by the Kingdom United, and which was supposed to guarantee until 2047 freedoms unknown in mainland China.
