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Ex officio electors of next Hong Kong chief must pledge never to back separatism, referendums

蘋果日報 2021/06/02 06:30


Ex officio members of a committee that elects Hong Kong’s chief executive must declare they will not support separation from China, conduct referendums or indiscriminately oppose government bills in the legislature.
The Election Committee will have 362 ex officio members out of a total membership of 1,500, after the Hong Kong legislature last week passed a bill that added 300 seats to the body. It is due to be formed in December, ahead of the selection of the city’s leader next year.
Ex officio members are guaranteed places on the committee by virtue of their positions in the governing establishment, and include lawmakers and Hong Kong deputies to China’s state bodies. Other people win the committee’s seats by being nominated and then elected among their own sectors.
Under new requirements for committee seats, the government is getting all eligible ex officio members to submit a registration form by July 5. Voters for the committee will also need to register again due to rule changes that took effect last week as part of the amended law.
Applicants for ex officio membership are to sign the registration form, posted by authorities on Monday, to uphold the Basic Law. According to the form, acts that do not uphold the Basic Law include advocating or supporting Hong Kong independence, promoting “self-determination of sovereignty or jurisdiction” or referendums, or “devising constitution by all people.”
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The list also includes actions such as asking a foreign country to rule over Hong Kong, and soliciting interference by foreign governments or organizations in Hong Kong’s affairs.
It is considered as failing to uphold the Basic Law if a person “commits acts that undermine or have a tendency to undermine the order of the political structure led by the chief executive,” including indiscriminately objecting to motions tabled by the government with the intention to threaten or obstruct the authorities.
A person who upholds the Basic Law should not turn an election into a “de facto referendum” to confront the local or central government, the document adds.
The activities listed are understood to refer to the pro-democracy camp’s unofficial primary poll last summer.
Lo Kin-hei, chair of the Democratic Party, told Apple Daily that the requirements were expected and the conditions were part of the government’s policy of “patriots ruling Hong Kong.”
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