Disqualification Reasons Ridiculous: Joshua Wong

Joshua Wong has said the reasons given by election officials to bar him from running in the Legco poll were “ridiculous”, and accused them of twisting his views so that they can prosecute him under the national security law.

The comments come after election officials on Thursday barred Wong and 11 other Legco hopefuls from the pro-democracy camp from running in the polls.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Wong said that Legco elections have never been free and fair since 2016 when officials barred people like Edward Leung, Nathan Law, and Agnes Chow from running.

He described Thursdays decisions as "the most scandalous election fraud ever in Hong Kong history", and that "no reasonable man would think that this election ban is not politically-driven".

Wong said the returning officer for Kowloon East Alice Choi cited previous official statements made by the now-disbanded Demosisto as grounds for invalidating his application to run in the polls, and reframed them as his own.

Wong had withdrawn from Demosisto last month shortly before the group disbanded, and he said the group haven't promoted self-determination for Hong Kong since January.

He said also accused the authorities in Beijing of using the Covid-19 pandemic to try to postpone the election, and urged the international community to focus on the four student activists from the group Studentlocalism, who were arrested on Wednesday evening by officers from the national security unit on suspicion of secession.

Wong also said the city's pro-democracy camp will continue to fight Beijing's crackdown on political freedoms, after he and other members of the opposition were barred from running in the Legco elections.

"Our resistance [will] continue on and we hope the world can stand with us in the upcoming uphill battle," he said.

On Thursday, 12 democracy activists were told they would not be allowed to stand for Legco because of their previously stated political views.

In a statement announcing its decision, Hong Kong's government listed political views that required disqualification. They included criticising Beijing's new security law, campaigning to win a legislation-blocking majority and refusing to recognise China's sovereignty.

But there are doubts over whether the election will even go ahead, with sources telling RTHK that the poll could be delayed by up to a year. (With additional reporting by AFP)