Hong Kong democrats have warned against the possibility of Beijing ousting district councilors, saying that such a move would be worse than the political system under colonial rule.

China’s top legislative body is reportedly considering a proposal to make Hong Kong district councilors swear oaths of allegiance and to eliminate their influence in the election committee that selects the city’s chief executive.

Democratic Party vice chairperson Lam Cheuk-ting, who is also a district councilor, said on Wednesday that any disqualification of councilors would be a “step back” for Hong Kong’s political structure and would not improve governance.

If the Hong Kong government appoints pro-Beijing politicians to replace democrats, that would be “even worse than the District Council system in the 1980s and 1990s,” Lam said. The move would also nullify last year’s popular-vote results, he added.

Pro-democracy candidates won 385 out of 452 seats at District Council elections last November.

Lo Kin-hei, the Democratic Party chairperson and chair of the Southern District Council, said the District Council is the “most democratic system” in Hong Kong. Beijing was changing the rules of the game since the current system does not give it the upper hand, Lo said, adding that Chinese authorities wanted to control the results of elections.

Asked about the Democrats’ response to an oath-taking requirement, Lo said that he would not object to being sworn in. The party will conduct internal discussions on its response to possible disqualifications and will try to “preserve the energy of district-level organizations,” Lo added.

District councilors Fergus Leung, Lester Shum and Tiffany Yuen said they wouldn’t be surprised if Beijing ousted them from their positions, given its high-profile intervention in the run-up to the now-postponed Legislative Council election earlier this year.

Civic Party district councilor Shun Lee said the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress might disqualify politicians based on their participation in an unofficial primary election the pro-democracy camp held in anticipation of the LegCo race.

The Civic Party would continue to provide community-level services even if Beijing ousted more of its members, Lee said. If China were to go ahead with the disqualifications, the decision would only alienate the public and would not help solve the governance issues that blight Hong Kong, he added.

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