Election candidates might be disqualified for absence of non-mandatory form
蘋果日報 2020/06/19 09:38
Those who hope to run in the Legislative Council elections are not required to submit a confirmation form pledging allegiance to the Basic Law and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region but failure to do so could cost candidates the ticket to join September's elections, according to the Electoral Affairs Commission.
The commission on Thursday issued guidelines for the upcoming elections that included a definition of the validity of the controversial confirmation form, which was introduced during the Legco elections in 2016.
The form's introduction was followed by the disqualification of a number of pro-independence candidates, including activist Edward Leung, who was sentenced to six years in jail for rioting in 2018, and Andy Chan of the now-banned Hong Kong National Party.
The new guidelines reaffirmed the legality of the form, which the commission said was to "ensure that all candidates clearly understand the provisions of the Basic Law and the legal requirements and responsibilities involved" in making the statutory declaration during the nomination process.
The commission said the form was "non-mandatory," but stated that the returning officer "is also entitled to take into account a candidate's failure to return the confirmation form in deciding the validity of the nomination."
The commission stressed that it was "lawful" to ask a candidate to submit the form "on a voluntary basis" and also for the returning officer to factor in the form when determining whether or not to allow a candidate to take part in the elections, although the "confirmation form is not part of the declaration." The commission added that the returning officer has the final say on whether a candidate is allowed to run.
Civic Party leader and lawmaker Alvin Yeung called the confirmation form an "illegal structure" imposed on the nomination process and said the new guidelines only dressed the form up to make it appear reasonable.
Democratic Party Chairman Wu Chi-wai said the government's recent warnings against those who opposed Hong Kong's new national security law seemed to foreshadow who might be banned from running in the Legco elections. He said the guidelines appeared to be a way for the commission to justify the disqualification of a large number of candidates.
Barnabas Fung, chair of the Electoral Affairs Commission, said details of the national security law were yet to be revealed, and as such, no assumptions should be made. He said returning officers will perform their duties according to the law, but on whether the officers made the right decisions in the past, Fung said he could not comment on the matter as it was beyond the commission's power to do so.
The commission on Thursday issued guidelines for the upcoming elections that included a definition of the validity of the controversial confirmation form, which was introduced during the Legco elections in 2016.
The form's introduction was followed by the disqualification of a number of pro-independence candidates, including activist Edward Leung, who was sentenced to six years in jail for rioting in 2018, and Andy Chan of the now-banned Hong Kong National Party.
The new guidelines reaffirmed the legality of the form, which the commission said was to "ensure that all candidates clearly understand the provisions of the Basic Law and the legal requirements and responsibilities involved" in making the statutory declaration during the nomination process.
The commission said the form was "non-mandatory," but stated that the returning officer "is also entitled to take into account a candidate's failure to return the confirmation form in deciding the validity of the nomination."
The commission stressed that it was "lawful" to ask a candidate to submit the form "on a voluntary basis" and also for the returning officer to factor in the form when determining whether or not to allow a candidate to take part in the elections, although the "confirmation form is not part of the declaration." The commission added that the returning officer has the final say on whether a candidate is allowed to run.
Civic Party leader and lawmaker Alvin Yeung called the confirmation form an "illegal structure" imposed on the nomination process and said the new guidelines only dressed the form up to make it appear reasonable.
Democratic Party Chairman Wu Chi-wai said the government's recent warnings against those who opposed Hong Kong's new national security law seemed to foreshadow who might be banned from running in the Legco elections. He said the guidelines appeared to be a way for the commission to justify the disqualification of a large number of candidates.
Barnabas Fung, chair of the Electoral Affairs Commission, said details of the national security law were yet to be revealed, and as such, no assumptions should be made. He said returning officers will perform their duties according to the law, but on whether the officers made the right decisions in the past, Fung said he could not comment on the matter as it was beyond the commission's power to do so.
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