Yan Chan To Appeal Election Petition Decision

Independent lawmaker Yan Chan said she has filed an application for permission to appeal to the city’s Court of Final Appeal over a lower court’s decision that she wasn’t properly elected as a lawmaker in a by-election in 2018.

Chan's move comes after the High Court ruled last month that ousted pro-democracy lawmaker Lau Siu-lai had been denied the chance to explain her political views before she was banned from taking part in the West Kowloon by-election that year.

Chan won the seat with just over 106,000 votes, about 50 percent of the vote share, beating the pro-democracy camp's back-up candidate Lee Cheuk-yan and independent Frederick Fung.

Speaking to reporters, she said she had the right to appeal given that she was elected with more than 100,000 votes in an open, fair, and impartial election.

She said the court's ruling involved pre-election procedural issues that she had nothing to do with, and that she followed all the relevant election procedures.

Chan’s move means that she will be able to stay at her job for the time being. She said it’s hard to predict the outcome of her appeal but says she will continue to perform her duties as a lawmaker in the meantime.