I'd Be Blamed If Poll Spread Virus: CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has defended her decision to postpone next month's Legislative Council election, saying she would have been held responsible if the poll had resulted in a wider outbreak of the coronavirus.

In an interview with the former Legislative Council president Rita Fan, posted on her official Facebook page on Monday, Lam also dismissed "conspiracy theories" which suggested that the decision was motivated by the likelihood of a heavy defeat for the pro-establishment camp.

"In recent years, there've been many conspiracy theories in Hong Kong, especially after so many things happened over the past year," she said. "Some people say I'm worried that the pro-establishment camp cannot afford to lose."

"I had no other solutions, because the risks are too high and people's lives are at stake."

She said the chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Barnabus Fung, had written "a very long letter" setting out the risks, including the possibility that more than 3 million votes, or 70 per cent of the electorate, would turn out.

Lam also said holding the election now would be unfair, as hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong people living on the mainland would not be able to return due to strict border controls amid the pandemic.

Meanwhile the government also responded on Monday to comments from the Bar Association, which on Sunday questioned the legal basis for the postponement.

"The legal basis is sound, as the present epidemic situation can be regarded as an occasion of public danger and emergency, and the decision to postpone is in the public interest," a government spokesman said.

"In a free society like Hong Kong, citizens are free to raise legal challenges against policy decisions or existing legislation in accordance with the law at any time.

"It will not be in the public interest if the Government refrains completely from making decision or invoking legal powers under existing legislation due to the possible outcome of legal challenges."

It said holding the election during a pandemic would have made meaningful campaigning impossible, while voters living on the mainland or overseas would not have been able to return to cast ballots.

Time, practical and legal constraints meant extending polling hours or implementing postal or online ballots were impossible, the spokesman added.