Page 52 - 161 varsity ebook

50 /

Election System Overhaul In
The Future?
Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the
semi-official Chinese Association of
Hong Kong and Macau Studies, says
he is unfamiliar with the subject,
when responding to Varsity’s request
for an interview.
But when speaking to local media
on September 15, he said reforming
the district council will be inevitable
to prevent from becoming a platform
for political struggle.
Executive Council convenor Ber-
nard Chan admitted on March 10 that
overhauling the district council would
wipe out the city’s democratic devel-
opment since the handover, but he
stressed it would be needed to “give
confidence to the Central Govern-
ment that ‘One County, Two Systems’
could carry on”.
Liz Truss, foreign secretary of the
United Kingdom, issued a statement
objecting to the disqualification of
district councilors on October 21. She
said she was “deeply concerned” about
the development and urged the Hong
Kong government to “uphold freedom
of speech and allow the public a genu- Hong Kong Councillors; Foreign Secretary’s statement
ine choice of political representatives”. (Screencap from the government website of United Kingdom)
The Hong Kong government re-
sponded on October 22 that the oath-
taking of district councilors was “con-
ducted in full compliance to the Basic
Law”, and “strongly deplores and con-
demns” the smearing and unfair com-
ments by foreign governments.

Edited by Lok Chung-yin

An empty office of a resigned district councilor in Hang Hau