The Legislative Council's second reading of the rural representative election amendments must be sworn in writing, otherwise DQ

The Legislative Council held a general meeting today (18th) for the first and second readings of the Rural Representative Election (Amendment) Bill 2022, which introduced the requirement that the elected must swear an oath of support for the Basic Law and allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Acting Secretary for Home Affairs Chan Chi-chi said in his motion for the second reading that after considering the provisions of the "Hong Kong National Security Law", other relevant arrangements for public elections, and the nature of rural representative elections, it is recommended to legislate to stipulate that the elected candidates must be elected before taking office. Sign a written oath in the prescribed manner and submit it to the Director of Home Affairs.

He said that if the elected person fails to take the oath as required or violates the oath, he will be disqualified from taking office and must bear legal consequences, including being banned from participating in rural representative elections and other public elections for five years.

The next rural representative election will be held in January next year.

Second reading to amend the CPA election draft

In addition, the Legislative Council also read the "Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 2022" for the second time, revising the election system for directors of the CPA, including increasing the nomination threshold to 10, and requiring the second opinion of the members of the Advisory Committee of the Financial Reporting Council. Every 2 years.

The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Hui Zhengyu, said the amendments would ensure the professional quality of candidates and enhance communication with the Financial Reporting Council.

The government intends to amend the legislation for rural representative candidates to take a written oath, otherwise DQ and bear the legal consequences. The government amends the legislation to "improve" the election of the CPA association, raising the entry threshold, and the election will be held every two years.