Hong Kong is Back to Square One- Only This Time It’s Worse

The mass resignation of pan-democratic legislators in process against the disqualification of four legislators takes Hong Kong back 23 years.

After disqualifying 12 opposition candidates, Chief Executive Carrie Lam sought approval from Beijing regarding the postponement of the Legislative Council Elections. While the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) announced to extend all current Hong Kong Legislators for at least a year, Beijing did not mention the four legislators disqualified by Lam later. It implied Beijing was fine with allowing all members of all the legislature to continue for another year.

Only upon Lam’s request, NPCSC passed a resolution to disqualify “legislators who promote Hong Kong independence, ask external forces to interfere in Hong Kong’s affairs or commit other acts that threaten national security”.

Carrie Lam “has created a path for the executive to remove legislators at will, without the involvement of the legislature itself or the judiciary. The Hong Kong Bar Association pointed out the government’s approach to ‘violates the basic principles of fairness and due process inherent in the rule of law.’

China now ranks Hong Kong’s importance behind Shenzhen.

Source: The Globe and Mail #Nov17

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-after-23-years-hong-kong-is-back-to-square-one-only-this-time-its/

#HongKong #LegCoElection #LegCoHK