Lau Siu-lai Wins Election Petition, Ousts Yan Chan

Ousted pro-democracy lawmaker Lau Siu-lai on Thursday won her legal challenge over being barred from running in a 2018 Legco by-election, ousting the pro-establishment camp's Yan Chan from the legislature in the process.

The High Court concluded that Lau had been denied the chance to explain her political views before the returning officer for Kowloon West banned her from taking part in the poll.

The election official had decided that Lau had not genuinely changed her previous stance advocating “democratic self-determination” for Hong Kong and would therefore fail to uphold the Basic Law.

Lau was hoping to take back the seat she lost when she was disqualified from Legco in 2017 for failing to take her lawmaker oath correctly.

Thursday's ruling means Chan, who won the by-election, loses her seat being as she was not duly elected owing to Lau's wrongful disqualification.

After the hearing, Lau described her court win as a "bitter victory".

"The judge commented on the procedural irregularities being unjust. But he also thinks that the electoral officer has a right to subjectively determine whether I would sincerely uphold the Basic Law," she said.

"So I think it is just a bitter victory and will do very little to protect our legal and political rights."

As the news broke, a Legco meeting was suspended after the pro-democracy camp's Cheng Chung-tai asked whether Chan could still be allowed to speak.

The DAB's Starry Lee, who was presiding over the meeting, said she would have to consult legal advisers. Chan was later allowed to continue speaking.

Chan told the media afterwards that she would seek legal advice before deciding whether to appeal against the court ruling.

"I would treat this as an obstacle because everyone, in their career path, may come across some difficulties. This is only one of the difficulties that I will face. I will seek my legal advice to decide the follow up action," she said.

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