Hong Kong lawmakers criticize their opposition colleagues who resigned, and pledge at a media conference at the Legislative Council Complex on Friday to fulfill their duties. (parker zheng / CHINA DAILY)
About 70 percent of Hong Kong’s lawmakers pledged on Friday to fulfill their duties to monitor and improve the government’s performance and to work with the people of Hong Kong to get through the difficult time the city is facing.
The legislature shall maintain a vigorous and cooperative relationship with the government, Martin Liao Cheung-kong, a barrister and the convener of the pro-establishment lawmakers in the Legislative Council, said at a news conference.
The 41 pro-establishment lawmakers will be proactive in the deliberation of every bill, budget, and policy proposal presented by the government and will reflect the different voices of society, he added.
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The news conference came two days after the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress said on Wednesday that Hong Kong Legislative Council members will be disqualified for office if they are determined by law to have failed to meet the legal requirements of upholding the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s Basic Law and honoring their vow of allegiance to the HKSAR.
After the NPCSC decision was announced, the Hong Kong government disqualified four legislators — Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, Kwok Ka-ki, and Kenneth Leung Kai-cheong. They previously had been banned from running for the seventh-term LegCo after returning officers found that they were not upholding the Basic Law.
Lawmaker, Starry Lee Wai-king said it was irresponsible for the 15 legislators to create such a political farce for the sole purpose of confronting the central government
Forty-three lawmakers have opted to remain in office for the extended term of the sixth-term LegCo. Forty-one are from the pro-establishment camp; the other two are Cheng Chung-tai and Pierre Chan, who did not join the other 41 legislators at Friday’s media briefing.
The seventh-term election, originally scheduled for Sept 6, was postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the four lawmakers disqualified on Wednesday were serving in the extended sixth LegCo term.
The four ousted legislators deserved to be disqualified, given their indiscriminate opposition to every bill and budget presented to the legislature, and their asking foreign countries to impose sanctions against China and the special administrative region, Liao said.
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Observers said that the 15 lawmakers who resigned this week were merely posturing to gain international attention.
Another lawmaker, Starry Lee Wai-king, said it was irresponsible for the 15 legislators to create such a political farce for the sole purpose of confronting the central government. She said that the legislature will work with the government to make the best use of the extended LegCo year to tackle pressing problems in Hong Kong, such as the rising unemployment, and to try to address deep-rooted issues.
She noted that without the opposition’s delaying tactics, the legislature has smoothly advanced most of its agenda. For example, the Panel on Health Services on Friday morning urged the Food and Health Bureau, led by Secretary for Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee, to take more stringent measures to contain the pandemic in Hong Kong with the target of making the city “virus-free”.
In a social media post on Friday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the Standing Committee’s decision has set a clear standard of lawmakers’ legal responsibility to uphold their oaths after they assume office. She hailed the Standing Committee’s action as necessary to set things right.
Lam criticized foreign governments and political organizations’ distortion of truth on the matter, as well as their accusations against China.
