High Court judge ‘surprised’ that most District Council candidates also responsible for nominating contenders
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong High Court judge hearing a legal challenge to the District Council nomination system has expressed surprise that most direct election contenders in the upcoming race also sit on the committees which decide who can stand as candidates.
The request for a judicial review was filed by veteran litigant Kwok Cheuk-kin against the nomination system for the “patriots-only” District Council race on December 10. It asks the court to repeal the requirement for candidates to receive at least three nominations from government-appointed local committees in order to compete in the race.
Counsel Anson Wong, representing Kwok, and senior counsel Jenkin Suen, representing the secretary for justice, appeared before Judge Russell Coleman on Thursday morning, according to local media.
Voting rights ‘overridden’
Kwok’s submission argued that the government’s requirement was designed to override residents’ right to vote, and that the committees could effectively bar candidates who were popular among constituents from running.
His writ cited Article 26 of the Basic Law, which stipulates that “Permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall have the right to vote and the right to stand for election in accordance with law.”
Kwok’s submission came after democrats and even some from the pro-establishment camp failed to secure endorsements from nominators.
Plans to overhaul the District Council elections were unveiled in May 2023 to ensure only “patriots” were elected, following a pro-democracy landslide at the last polls in 2019. The number of seats chosen democratically by the public was slashed from 452 to 88 – reducing the power of public votes to a fifth. The remaining 382 seats will be chosen by the city’s leader and the government-appointed committees.
Constituency boundaries were redrawn, the opposition were shut out, voting time was slashed by an hour, and each local council is to be chaired by a government official, similar to colonial-era arrangements. All candidates must undergo national security vetting to ensure patriotism.
Nominating committees
Wong told the court that some three-quarters of candidates sat on the three committees responsible for deciding who could stand, making it hard for non-committee members to get nominated.
According to an HKFP analysis 75.4 per cent of candidates in the direct election also sit on the nominating committees. Among the 171 candidates running for the 88 democratically-elected seats, 129 were members of the three committees responsible for deciding who can enter the race.
Members of the committees should only nominate those who were not on the committees, Judge Coleman reportedly said, adding that it was surprising that most of the committee members had made nominations from among their own number.
Suen, however, argued that the two thirds of the councillors elected in 2019 had either resigned, left the city, or been convicted, adding that Kwok had no evidence to prove how many members of the pro-democracy camp had failed to obtain nominations, or the reasons for this.
The Democratic Party’s six hopefuls were shut out of the race just weeks ago after failing to secure enough nominations, as were the two from the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood.
Other than the two pro-democracy groups, moderate party Third Side also failed to get enough nominations to nominate a candidate, while Roundtable, a pro-establishment group founded by entrepreneur and lawmaker Michael Tien, only secured enough nominations for one of its five hopefuls.
Suen also told the court that the judicial review was bound to affect the December elections, and the court need not make a hasty decision without sufficient evidence.
The judge is due to issue his ruling on Friday.
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