HONG KONG - Nearly 70 percent of Hong Kong people said they were dissatisfied with the performance of opposition lawmakers who opted to remain in the Legislative Council until 2021, according to a survey released on Thursday. Incumbent legislators were allowed to serve another year after the Sept 6 LegCo election was postponed for a year due to COVID-19.

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The survey came after the opposition legislators resumed their filibustering tactics in the first week of the new legislative year from Oct 14

The survey came after the opposition legislators resumed their filibustering tactics in the first week of the new legislative year from Oct 14.

The telephone survey was conducted between Oct 27 and Oct 31 by a local public opinion research center entrusted by the Hong Kong-based Bauhinia Magazine’s research entity.

Of the 1,547 interviewees, 67.3 percent disapproved of the opposition lawmakers’ performance. Meanwhile, 63.6 percent of interviewees said the four incumbent opposition legislators, who were barred from running in the next legislative election, should not serve out the extended one-year term.

Returning officers on July 30 ruled that Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, Kwok Ka-ki, Dennis Kwok Wing-hang and Kenneth Leung Kai-cheong were not eligible to run for the now-postponed LegCo election as their nominations failed to comply with the Legislative Council Ordinance requirements.

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The survey showed that the opposition’s actions have caused outrage among the public, said lawmaker Holden Chow Ho-ding. It is necessary to set time limits and speed up the process in the legislature to get it back on track, added the vice-chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. 

Lawmaker Starry Lee Wai-king, chairperson of the DAB, said that it was clear that the opposition camp had filibustered in order to paralyze the legislature and thus stand in the way of action by the government. 

The legislature has only deliberated four bills since the beginning of the new session on Oct 14, which demonstrated work inefficiency, said Lee. 

Lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu said he will write to the Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, and ask her to seek legal action to disqualify the incompetent opposition legislators as having breached the oath they took to uphold the Basic Law and swear allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.