With the support of outside forces, opposition groups and leaders have deliberately devised plans to hold these so-called ‘primary elections,’ which is a serious provocation to the current electoral system and has seriously damaged the fairness and fairness of the Legislative Council. elections, ”said the liaison office, Beijing’s main representative in the city, at the time.
On Wednesday, Hong Kong police appeared to be monitoring that threat, reportedly arresting primary candidates in an early morning visit.
Those arrested include former Democratic Party lawmakers James To, Andrew Wan and Lam Cheuk-ting, who had served on the city’s Legislative Council until late last year, before she and all other members of the pro- democracy bloc in protest against the government’s decision to expel several lawmakers.
Joshua Wong, the prominent Umbrella Movement activist who was jailed late last year, is also being investigated regarding the primary. His house was raided Wednesday morning, according to a post on his verified social media.
Hong Kong police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wednesday’s arrests are the most dramatic and sweeping escalation under national security law, which Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and others had ever promised would have limited effect and only target a small number of fringe activists.
In 2020, you were part of the ’35+ ‘primaries, designed to elect 35 or more members of the Legislative Council with the aim of vetoing all fiscal policies and government motions to enforce the Chief Executive To act, ”the arresting officer says in the video. “(Such acts would) seriously disrupt and hinder the legitimate responsibilities of the government.”
Such a plan had been proposed by prominent pro-democracy activist Benny Tai as a possible tactic to restart the long-stalled political reform process in Hong Kong, in the unlikely situation of pro-democracy candidates gaining a majority in the semi- democracy legislature, where About half of the seats are allocated to so-called “functional constituencies”, chosen by companies and other groups favoring Beijing.
Voting against the budget and forcing the chief executive to step down would have been legal prior to the national security law, akin to a “vote of no confidence” triggering general elections in many democracies.
‘Shameful and ridiculous’
“I’ve already lost count. But believe everyone who took part in the pro-democracy primary in Hong Kong last year will be arrested, including the organizers,” Lo Kin-hei, Democratic Party chairman, said on Twitter. “Most likely over 40 or even 50.”
Former lawmaker Emily Lau described the arrests as “shameful and ridiculous”.
“How can people running a pre-election to select candidates be subversive and violate national security law,” she said. “This is a blatant attempt to intimidate pro-democracy activists and warn people not to get involved in politics and cooperation.”
Speaking to CNN late last year, Shum – an elected district councilor – predicted it was a matter of when, not if, he would be arrested and likely to be expelled from his seat.
“I think after 2019 we will face a complete repression of the democratic movement. And at the district council level, we are popularly elected by people from Hong Kong … and they may see that as a threat,” said Shum .
Chief Executive Lam appeared to be addressing the city’s political disagreement in her New Year’s speech. “Every time there are arguments in society, people are actually paying a high price,” she said. “That is why my greatest hope for 2021 is that society will have harmony. So that the SAR government and other public bodies have more room to do concrete things for Hong Kong.”
CNN’s Jadyn Sham has reported.