Majority Of Pan-dems To Stay In Legco Amid Split

A majority of the pan-democratic lawmakers have made it clear on Tuesday that they will stay in Legco for the coming year, bringing into the open a split in the opposition camp over their role in the extended council.

Two lawmakers belonging to the opposition camp, Ray Chan and Chu Hoi-dick, had announced on Monday that they would end their role as lawmakers on Wednesday when the term of the current Legco ends.

The two are generally regarded as "radical" pro-democracy leaders favoured by political movements like localism that rose after the 2014 Occupy protests.

But 15 lawmakers, most of who belong to the traditional political parties, said in a media briefing that they have decided to stay as a public opinion poll on whether they should stay or quit the Legco failed to deliver a clear answer on the question.

The camp's new convenor, Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai, said it's a difficult decision made based on their political judgement, but staying is the lesser of two evils.

Wu said continuing in the Legco will give them some power to delay objectionable moves by the government.

"We can at least have some power, some force to fight against the government, instead of giving up the whole venue to the pro-establishment camp and the government," he said.

The camp also said they will discuss future cooperation plans with lawmakers who decided to leave, and localists who won the pan-democrat primaries for the now-postponed Legco elections.

Asked if they are concerned that they will suffer the consequences of their decision in future Legco polls, Wu said they will respect voters' decision and he hopes supporters will understand their rationale to stay.

Soon after the media briefing, six lawmakers belonging to the Professionals Guild said they would also stay on.

But signalling the depth of the divide within the camp, Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan announced she will be leaving the party for "personal reasons" and cease to be a lawmaker. This will mean the opposition will see at least three more seats vacant on their side.

The poll commissioned by the Democratic Party surveyed some 2,500 people last week, among which 730 claimed to be supporters of the lawmakers.

Results showed no clear majority from supporters who said they should stay, nor from those who oppose. 47.1 percent of supporters said they should serve for another year, just 1.3 percentage points more than those who oppose.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress agreed last month to extend the term of Legco by at least one year to plug the gap created by the government's decision to postpone the polls due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The opposition lawmakers have been struggling to come to a common stance over their role in the extended Legco, with some of them arguing Beijing's decision is in breach of the Basic Law and the mandate of the legislators end when the term is over.

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