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01 News | Three types of district councilors expect that the DQ part can be written "bad paper" to defend that they will be suspended after being prosecuted

2021-05-12T12:20:19.263Z


The Public Service (Participation and Appointment) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2021, which involves the oath of district members, resumes its second reading in the Legislative Council this Wednesday (12th) and is expected to be passed through the third reading this week. It is understood that the government’s


Political situation

Written by: Wu Shiyu

2021-05-10 07:00

Last update date: 2021-05-10 07:00

The Public Service (Participation and Appointment) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2021, which involves the oath of district members, resumes its second reading in the Legislative Council this Wednesday (12th) and is expected to be passed through the third reading this week.

It is understood that the government aims to hold an oath ceremony for district councilors in June. If the progress goes well, it will be carried out at the end of May as soon as possible. The 18 district councils are now inclined to take the oath collectively on the same day and at the same place.

How many democratic district councillors will be DQ will be the focus.

People familiar with the matter said that there are three types of people who will be deprived of the qualifications of district councilors. The Secretary for Home Affairs Xu Yingwei does not rule out the exercise of retrospective power. If a district councilor is judged to have violated the content of the oath in the past, it will be similar to the election of the Legislative Council or the District Council. Write a letter to the relevant district councillor for an explanation, and then decide whether to disqualify.

In other words, those who are caught in DQ crisis will receive "forecast" signals in disguise.

Do not rule out retrospective track record, many people fall into DQ crisis

According to people familiar with the matter, the "Public Service (Election and Appointment) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2021" is expected to be passed this week, and the Home Affairs Bureau will immediately finalize the arrangements for the oath of district members in accordance with the regulations.

Judging from the current situation, there must be democratic district councilors who are disqualified. They can be roughly divided into three categories:

The first category is the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr. Tsang Kwok-wai, mentioned that in last year’s original Legislative Council general election, the four pro-democratic district councillors who were elected by the Returning Officer "DQ" (ruled that the nomination of the Legislative Council election was invalid), namely the Eastern District Councillors Cheng Tat-hung, Southern District Councillor Yuen Ka-wai, Central and Western District Councillor Leung Hoang-wai, Tsuen Wan District Councillor Shun Aohui.



Yuan Jiawei and Cen Aohui were found guilty of illegal assembly for participating in the June 4th rally last year. They were sentenced to more than three prisoners and they lost their qualifications as district councillors. Liang Huangwei, who was remanded in custody due to the pro-democracy primary election case, has recently resigned as a district councillor. Zheng Dahong, who was released on bail in the primary election, still has the status of a district councilor.

Sued person is immediately suspended from work without pay

The second category is the Secretary for Home Affairs, Xu Yingwei, in response to the passing of the Public Officials Oath Ordinance. If it is determined that a district councillor does not meet the content of the oath, he will send a letter to the party requesting an explanation. If he is not satisfied with the explanation, he will refuse to send an invitation to attend the oath ceremony. Letter, disguised as a district councilor;

The third category is for people who are sued by the Attorney General before taking the oath. They will automatically suspend their duties as district councilors. During this period, they are not allowed to participate in the district council, cannot receive salaries, or exercise their status as a district councilor. If the court is convicted, they will lose their qualifications as a district councilor.

In the current pan-democracy primaries, excluding 4 people including Zheng Dahong and Tu Jinshen and Kwong Junyu who have not been sued by the Attorney General, as many as 19 district councillors have been prosecuted. If they are automatically suspended, there will be at least 19 district councilors. Community services are affected.

The fate of Tu Jinshen and Kuang Junyu is still up in the air

A number of local district councilors originally took the lead in establishing the "Hong Kong Citizens Discussion Platform" on New Year's Eve last year. However, the Civic Party and the Democratic Party District Council members withdrew due to personal factors. The Secretary for Home Affairs Xu Yingwei later criticized the platform publicly. "Challenge the bottom line of the central government" is "illegal," causing the platform to stop at the moment.

According to the above "second category" situation, more democratic district councillors may fall on the brink of DQ.

In addition, whether the Democratic Party Tu Jinshen and Kwong Junyu, who were involved in the pan-democratic primary elections but were not prosecuted by the Department of Justice, and other democratic district councillors who have been labeled as "anti-China" and "black violence" can escape the DQ knife? It is still unknown.

The source pointed out that if Xu Yingwei judges that a district councillor does not conform to the content of the oath (sincerely supporting the Basic Law and loyal to the SAR), he will write to request an explanation and provide an opportunity for defense in disguise. However, whether the authorities are satisfied depends very much on whether the reasons for the explanation are sufficient.

Tend to take oaths from district to district on the same day and at the same place in the 18 districts

In terms of specific oath arrangements, sources disclosed that in order to shorten the time and achieve consistency, they tend to follow the method of swearing oaths by accountable officials and directorate officials. "One batch, one batch." The 18 district councils will be invited to gather in one place. Then the oath is taken district by district, that is, 18 oaths are administered, and the goal is to be completed within one day.

If someone "plays" on the spot, Xu Yingwei, who is the supervisor for oaths, will announce his disqualification only after the fact, so as not to hinder the progress of the oath.

However, the source said with a smile, "If you come to take an oath, you shouldn't make troubles, but want to finish things quickly."

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01News

Legislative Council District Council Hong Kong Version National Security, Legal System and Mainland Affairs Bureau Kwong Chunyu Tu Jinshen

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2021-05-12

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