The Hong Kong government would investigate the past behaviors of district councilors to decide whether to disqualify them, according to pro-Beijing lawmaker Leung Che-cheung.

Pro-Beijing news outlets have recently reported that up to 170 district councilors may be disqualified for various reasons, including participating in last year’s pro-democracy camp primary, lending office space for the primary’s polling stations and signing a joint protest statement. They may be ousted soon, as the government was planning to host an oath taking ceremony.

The primary had a goal of indiscriminately opposing the government, so it violated the national security law, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong lawmaker Leung told a RTHK talk show on Thursday.

It would be difficult to hold by-elections after the disqualifications as it would involve too many people and too large of an area, he said. By-elections were not urgent as the Legislative Council election was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

Democratic Party chair Lo Kin-hei, who is also the chair of the Southern District Council, said he had never done anything that could lead to his disqualification. Reports said 59 out of the party’s 80 district councilors may be disqualified, and it would affect the party’s operation if this was true, he said.

There was still no solid evidence and reasons over the arrests of people who were involved in the primary, which he could not understand, Lo said. The government has a responsibility to hold by-elections as the law stated that the public should be represented, he said.

Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood acting chair Yeung Yuk said the line for disqualification would be randomly drawn by the government, and the key was whether there would be an effective appeal system. Only half of the party’s 18 district councilors would likely be affected, so it was difficult to prepare for the impact and the red line may shift any time, he said.

His job in the coming month was to explain to his constituents over future plans as the remaining councilors may not be able to take over the work of those disqualified, Yeung said. It would be a political decision by the government to not hold by-elections as it wished to diminish opposition voices, he said.

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