Hong Kong elections: will Legislative Council polls be postponed by a year with legal backing from mainland China?
- Proponents say with National People’s Congress Standing Committee weighing in, decision would be protected from legal challenges in city
- September vote hangs in the balance with Covid-19 spectre over city, while any decision on polling date bears political risks in highly polarised landscape
Hong Kong’s top officials are looking at postponing September’s Legislative Council elections by a year, and are likely to raise the issue to China’s top legislative body for a legal directive to support the decision and resolve any potential constitutional issues, according to sources.
While such a decision could be officially justified on the basis of protecting public health amid a resurgent third wave of Covid-19 infections, it would still be highly contentious with opposition politicians who are banking on a major victory over their pro-establishment rivals.
The official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday that China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), would meet again in Beijing from August 8 to 11 to discuss a series of laws. No Hong Kong-related item was on the agenda yet.
While the city’s embattled leader could invoke colonial-era emergency powers to postpone the polls, a government source said Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was keen to avoid any legal challenges that might be triggered, and preferred to seek a more authoritative decision from the standing committee itself.
Other sources said Lam and her de facto cabinet, the Executive Council, would convene again after nominations for the elections closed on Friday.
