This July 14, 2020 photo, shows the Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

HONG KONG - With regard to the recent arrests of people organizing the so-called "primary election" in Hong Kong, various Hong Kong sectors have called for more efforts to close the electoral loopholes and ensure Hong Kong is governed by patriots.

The Hong Kong police arrested last week 53 people on suspicion of breaching the national security law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

They noted that anti-China Hong Kong disruptors have been attempting to collude with external forces to turn local elections into their "tools" for "color revolution" and endanger national security and Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.

The Hong Kong police arrested last week 53 people on suspicion of breaching the national security law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

The suspects planned to paralyze the HKSAR government and force the HKSAR chief executive to resign once the opposition camp seizes control of the legislature. To that end, opposition figures organized the so-called "primary election" in July last year to rig the election for the seventh-term Legislative Council (LegCo) members.

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LegCo member Chan Han-pan said the scheme violates basic political ethics and legal provisions and completely ignores the overall interests of Hong Kong. "Once the conspiracy succeeds, it will deal a major blow to national security and Hong Kong's long-term stability."

The so-called "primary election" was premeditated and involved external forces, said Chan Ching-har, vice president of the Friends of Hong Kong Association.

"Local disruptors in league with external forces tried to use the election as a 'tool' to undermine the lawful governance of the HKSAR government and endanger national security," Chan said. 

No election around the world tolerates its candidates conspiring with external forces to subvert the state power and harm national security, said Chan Yung, vice-chairperson of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.

As the opposition camp has blatantly taken advantage of the electoral loopholes for their scheme, observers said that to plug the loopholes and safeguard the election has become an urgent matter.

To protect the election is to protect national security, Chan, the LegCo member, said.

As a significant component of Hong Kong's political system, an electoral system free from impact and jeopardy is crucial to the continued progress of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong, he said.

The opposition camp has exploited the loopholes to rig elections, undermining Hong Kong's long-term stability, and Hong Kong residents have called for efforts to fix the problem, Chan Yung said.

Lau Siu-kai, vice chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said opposition lawmakers abused the LegCo rules to repeatedly filibuster, causing the legislature's standstill and obstructing the government work, which was extremely harmful to people's livelihood amid the economic hardship.

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Efforts should be made to realize "patriots governing Hong Kong" by building a solid institutional defense according to the Basic Law and the national security law in Hong Kong, analysts said.

Hong Kong practicing barrister Wu Yingpeng cited the decision on the qualification of LegCo members made by the National People's Congress Standing Committee and the requirement for public officers to swear to uphold the Basic Law and bear allegiance to the HKSAR.

Wu called on the HKSAR government to make more efforts to protect elections, including creating detailed provisions in local laws and establishing enforcement mechanisms.