Direct translation
The Hong Kong Legislative Council election is postponed for one year, and the resulting "vacuum period" of the Legislative Council will be handled by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Tan Yaozong said yesterday that the standing committee will discuss it again for the extension of the current legislators who have been DQ. He also proposed to modify the election mechanism, such as setting up voting stations in the Mainland for local Hong Kong people to vote. The Bar Association issued a statement yesterday that it is extremely concerned about the postponement of the election by the Hong Kong government, saying that there are major doubts about the legal principles and evidence base, and it has asked the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to attack the rule of law in Hong Kong, describing it as "shocking."
Tan: The extension of office is the idea of the Hong Kong government. The National People's Congress must respect the decision
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said earlier that the continuation of the current Legislative Council for one year is the most pragmatic approach. The DQ has nothing to do with whether or not members can continue to serve as members. Tam Yiu-chung described "this is the idea of the Special Administrative Region Government" in TVB's "Clarify the Truth" yesterday, saying that the DQ legislators were postponed as having "embarrassed positions": "I was regarded by the Returning Officer as ineligible for election, but he continued "Reserved (seats)", the Standing Committee will consider this issue and believe that the decision of the National People's Congress should be respected. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will meet from 8th to 11th of this month.
In the future, elections may still be needed under the epidemic. Tan Yaozong believes that the election mechanism needs to be modified, such as electronic voting in voting stations, setting up voting stations in major mainland places for Hong Kong people to vote, allowing ballots to be mailed, and setting up caring teams for the elderly. Regarding whether voters meet the definition of "ordinarily resident" if they are allowed to vote overseas, Tan Yaozong believes that the Greater Bay Area cannot be regarded as "overseas". "It is just a matter of walking across the river." The definition also needs to be considered.
Tian Beichen, deputy to the People's Congress of the Hong Kong District, believes that the transitional legislature should be served by the "original class" of fully elected members rather than the establishment of a temporary legislature. He believes that this can convince the public.
Zhang Daming expects to set up a "Interim Legislative Council" with members directly appointed by the central government
Chief Lecturer Zhang Daming of the Faculty of Law of Hong Kong University estimated that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will set up a "provisional legislature", with members directly appointed by the central government, mainly by current members; or allowing current members to extend their posts, but with support for the Basic Law and allegiance Special Zone and other conditions. He estimated that DQ members could not be extended, and said that the laws of Hong Kong did not take into account the vacuum period of the Legislative Council. If the central government does not allow DQ members to be extended, it will not conflict with local laws. As for the setting up of voting stations in the Greater Bay Area, Zhang Daming said that as long as the Legislative Council passes it, it can be amended.
Some motions of the Legislative Council must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the members present at the meeting, such as the political reform plan and condemning members' motions. There are 4 incumbent members who have been elected by the Returning Officer DQ. If they are not extended, the non-establishment parties will lose their "key veto power."
Ma Yue: If mainland Hong Kong people are allowed to vote, 35+ will hardly happen
Ma Yue, associate professor of the Department of Politics and Administration at CUHK, said that there are not many cases where congressmen use the "key veto power", and that only half of the congressmen support the amendment of the election law. If Hong Kong people in the Mainland are allowed to vote, he thinks it will help the establishment of elections. "If those people often live in the Mainland, I don't see how the democrats can reach these voters." The 35+ plan is difficult to happen.
The Bar Association: Is the emergency law constitutional? The final court has not yet tried
The Bar Association issued a statement last night stating that the government had not consulted on the decision to postpone the election. As for why it was postponed for one year rather than a short period of time, the Association believed that the government had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation. The statement said that the Court of Final Appeal has not yet tried the constitutionality of the emergency law in the "Prohibition of Face Masking Regulation" case. The Hong Kong government has used the emergency law to cancel the election or was ruled illegal. The statement stated that the election of the Legislative Council is a matter of self-government in Hong Kong. It criticized the government for ignoring the provisions of the Basic Law and requesting the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to deal with the Legislative Council’s vacuum period, violating the rule of law society’s requirements for the legality and bringing an impact to the certainty of the law.
(Legislative Council Election)
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