Govt Slams 'referendum' Over Political Exploitation

The government on Saturday “strongly condemned” the organisers of a “referendum” being held to decide on a general strike, saying this exercise is aimed at “taking advantage of the public and students for political purposes”.

In a lengthy statement, the spokesman slammed a civil servants union and students taking part in the event which is to decide if there should be a strike against Beijing’s move to impose a national security law in Hong Kong.

"A civil service staff union is openly calling on civil servants to participate in a joint-union operation for holding a so-called 'referendum on a strike' for opposing the legislation of the national security law. This is absolutely unacceptable,” the statement said.

The spokesman said their action “will lead outside parties to mistakenly think that they represent the majority of civil servants” and they are acting against the government. This, the statement went on, will “seriously tarnishing the well-established reputation of the civil service”.

The government also slammed the use of district council members' ward offices as polling stations for the event, and said the related expenses will not be reimbursed.

The spokesman said schools should “take appropriate counselling and disciplinary actions” if it notes students are engaged in this event.

"In case such student misbehaviour is noted, the Education Bureau will also liaise and follow up with the schools concerned to render support and give instruction,” he said.