Pan-dems Threaten Mass Resignation Over Any Purge

Pan-democratic lawmakers on Monday threatened to resign en masse if Beijing moves to have any of them disqualified.

Nineteen legislators made the announcement at a press conference, amid reports that the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) was preparing to oust Alvin Yeung, Dennis Kwok, Kwok Ka-ki and Kenneth Leung, and that it would accuse them of violating their oaths of office by filibustering meetings.

It isn't clear exactly how the NPCSC would put any such disqualifications into effect.

"The Communist Party is angry at pan-democratic legislators for performing their duties," said the pro-democracy camp's convenor Wu Chi-wai.

"It's totally ridiculous. It reflects they are ruthless, and they disrespect the Basic Law," he added.

The Civic Party's Dennis Kwok said the camp had only been making use of the council's rules of procedure to carry out their duties as lawmakers and it seems "those in power cannot tolerate opposition anymore".

"They are adamant in getting rid of all opposition in the Legislative Council. And they are adamant in getting rid of all democrats, not simply from Legco but it seems the whole of Hong Kong even," he said.

"This is a serious departure from the original spirit of One Country, Two Systems, and also the provisions of the Basic Law."

Earlier this year, the four legislators reported to have incurred Beijing's wrath were also barred from seeking re-election in the polls slated for September, with returning officers ruling that the lawmakers would not uphold the Basic Law.

After September’s Legco polls were scrapped, the four – along with most pan-democratic lawmakers – decided to stay on in the legislature, despite complaints by some of their number that the Beijing-ordered 12-month extension to the current term was unconstitutional.

Chu Hoi-dick and Ray Chan quit the council, saying they had no mandate to continue serving.

But apart from Tanya Chan, who stepped down for personal reasons, the rest of the camp said they had decided not to quit as a public opinion poll on whether they should stay or go had failed to deliver a clear answer.

Last week, pro-Beijing legislators demanded that the authorities take action to remove members of the pro-democracy camp from Legco because of their repeated quorum calls during meetings.

Some called for disqualifications, while others urged police to investigate whether the pan-dems were breaching the national security law by slowing down Legco’s work.

The NPCSC set the stage for Legco disqualifications in 2016 with an interpretation of the Basic Law on legislator oaths. The move led to the ousting of six members of the pro-democracy camp – Nathan Law, Leung Kwok-hung, Lau Siu-lai, Edward Yiu, Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching.