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Legislative Council elections 2020
Hong KongPolitics

Pro-establishment hawks in ascendancy as Beijing debates fate of Hong Kong lawmakers banned from seeking re-election

  • Hardliners want Beijing to stop quartet barred from re-election sitting in extended Legislative Council term
  • But moderates don’t agree and some say they should be allowed to stay if they take an oath agreeing to uphold the Basic Law

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The postponing of the Legislative Council elections for a year has raised questions over its future until then. Photo: Nora Tam
Gary CheungandKimmy Chung
Unexpected signs of discord have emerged within Hong Kong’s pro-establishment camp, as four opposition lawmakers barred from seeking re-election wait for China’s top legislative body to deliver its verdict on their fate.
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Since the Hong Kong government announced the one-year postponement of the Legislative Council elections because of the coronavirus pandemic, several moderate pro-establishment figures, including former Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, and former constitutional affairs minister Raymond Tam Chi-yuen, have said the quartet should be allowed to serve during Legco’s extended term.

But most believe the opposition legislators, Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, Kwok Ka-ki and Dennis Kwok of the Civic Party, alongside the accountancy sector’s Kenneth Leung, should not be able to keep their seats.

Former Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang does not support the idea that the four opposition lawmakers should be barred from sitting in the chamber. Photo: Edward Wong
Former Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang does not support the idea that the four opposition lawmakers should be barred from sitting in the chamber. Photo: Edward Wong

A pro-Beijing figure said he was among a minority who believed all serving legislators, including those barred from seeking re-election, should be allowed to stay in the extended term of Legco, or a provisional legislature.

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“The majority favours banning those who have been disqualified from staying on,” the person, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. “Many people within the pro-establishment camp are inclined to second-guess the thinking of the central government and express views as conservative as possible.”

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