Censure Motion Against Cheng Chung-tai Rejected

A bid to unseat Civic Passion lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai failed in Legco on Thursday as it didn't meet the threshold of two-thirds of councillors present.

The motion, put forward by Paul Tse, aimed to censure Cheng for turning national and Hong Kong flag replicas upside down in the chamber in 2016. It was rejected with 39 voting for the move, and 25 against it.

The Civic Passion member has already been fined for the stunt by a court, and found to have breached his oath of office by a Legco committee.

Cheng said while the motion was defeated, he doesn't consider it as the end of the matter as the "twisted system" remains in place.

He also said there is no need to thank the pro-democracy camp as it would be a disgrace to assume that they wouldn't simply do what's right.

Earlier, DAB chairwoman Starry Lee said Cheng should be stripped of his seat, because he will not sincerely uphold the Basic Law.

"Playing with the flags is one symptom. Based on my understanding, from his own articles and all the behaviour, I cannot believe that he is really upholding the Basic Law. Actually, he is advocating to redraft the Basic Law," Lee said.

Professional Commons lawmaker Kenneth Leung said upending the flags may have been childish and inappropriate, but it takes a lot more than that to warrant disqualification.

"For example an act involving dishonesty or anything that tarnishes the integrity of a legislator," Leung said.

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