Ted Hui Doesn't Deserve To Be Ousted: Pan-dems

A number of pan-democratic lawmakers said on Friday that they would not support a bid to censure the Democratic Party's Ted Hui, saying his snatching of a government official's phone this week may have been wrong, but it doesn't warrant him losing his Legco seat.

After lawmakers had gathered on Friday to watch footage of the incident, Claudia Mo said Hui had not molested the female officer involved, as some pro-government lawmakers earlier suggested, and she said he hadn't insulted women in general.

"It just might be insulting to the person, but I wouldn't say to women as such. There are no scenes of molestation of any sort, we have to be fair," she said.

Mo added that she and the other five members of the Council Front group – Chu Hoi-dick, Ray Chan, Au Nok-hin, Gary Fan and Leung Yiu-chung – are all opposed to censuring Hui for his behaviour.

Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung condemned the now-suspended Democratic Party lawmaker for his actions on Tuesday, but agreed it would be too strong a move to unseat Hui over the matter.

"The Civic Party sees what Mr Hui did was condemnable, but on the other hand if we read the Basic Law, there are a few criteria for someone to be sanctioned. I see that is disproportional in the sense that I do not think Mr Hui's conduct would amount to that level," Yeung said.

New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip said she had written to the council's House Committee about her intention to raise a censure motion against Hui.

"I would submit a motion to reprimand Mr Hui in accordance with Basic Law Article 79. I haven't started probing the positions of pan-democratic legislators, but a few pro-establishment legislators, including Elizabeth Quat, Alice Mak, Felix Chung and Lo Wai-kwok, have agreed to co-sign."

Roundtable legislator Michael Tien said he will also support the censure motion. He said Hui should resign, adding that a Legco member should never resort to any physical action.

"I think, to me, the most important thing is his track record. That's the thing that we are worrying [about], because he's been known in the district council to have had such action. He basically took for granted that that is acceptable, and he can get away with it," Tien said.

It's understood that the video footage watched by lawmakers will not be made public after the Security Bureau officer involved in the incident objected to the move.