HK Announces Oath Requirement for Elected Officials, Paving Way for More Opposition Disqualifications
Posted by John Chan | Feb 23, 2021
The Hong Kong government has introduced a bill that will grant it the power to disqualify elected officials for failing to pledge loyalty, as the authorities define it, to the HKSAR or for betraying their oath of office. The proposal paves the way for the removal of pro-democracy District Councillors, local representatives who were elected to office in landslide victories in the fall of 2019. The changes came one day after Xia Baolong, Beijing’s director of Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, declared in a strongly worded speech that Hong Kong must be ruled by “patriots,” echoing words from Xi Jinping earlier this month. Xia’s speech signalled that even more electoral reforms were to be expected, with media reports suggesting possible changes to the composition of the 1,200 person Chief Executive Election Committee.