Two district councilors set to be axed after refusing to take oath

Tuen Mun district councillors Gary Poon Chi-kin and Wong Tak-yuen are set to lose their seat after they announced their decision not to attend the oath-taking ceremony that will be held this Friday.

The fourth and final batch of councillors – from Yuen Long, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsing and the Islands District – will take the oath on Friday to uphold the Basic Law and bear allegiance to the SAR.

The two both made the announcement on their social media accounts this afternoon.

Wong said based on how the SAR government has treated the current-term District Councils, and comparing to the previous terms, it is hard to believe that the District Council is still an advisory body to the government.

“We [District Councils] have been treated worse than a ‘advisory body’, let alone expressing our political demand or stance within the council,” he wrote.

However, he said he respects other district councillors’ decision to fulfill their promise to their constituents and  take the oath to continue serving in the district council.

Meanwhile, Poon said when he signed the declaration to bear allegiance to the SAR in the district council election, he was hoping to make Hong Kong a better place and do his part for the place he loves.

“But the current situation is far different than those times... I apologize to those who voted for me for failing to complete my term,” said Poon.

Separately, 16 district councillors face disqualification after the government raised doubts about the oaths they took on Monday.

They were among 50 councillors from Tai Po, Sai Kung, Sha Tin and North District who pledged their allegiance before the oath administrator, Home Affairs Secretary Caspar Tsui Ying-wai, in the third oath-taking ceremony held by the government.

Among the 16 whose oaths were questioned and have been requested additional information from is Ricky Or Yiu-lam from Sai Kung, who's been charged with violating the national security law over the Legislative Council primaries case.

The oath of the Sha Tin District Council's chairman, Raymond Li Chi-wang, was also called into question.

Of the 79 councillors from Hong Kong Island and Kowloon who took their oaths last month, 17 were disqualified after Tsui raised questions about their oaths which were subsequently ruled invalid.