Year's postponement imminent for Legco election

The Legislative Council elections due to be held on September 6 look set to postponed for 12 months - that would be an unprecedented action - because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is understood Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will cite the Emergency Regulations Ordinance for that decision.

And sources also said incumbent legislators will have their terms extended for 12 months.

On that, the SAR administration will ask the National People's Congress Standing Committee to decide whether elected legislators will start a full four-year term then or a three-year arrangement.

With Hong Kong facing a new surge in the coronavirus pandemic - cases exceeded 100 for a seventh consecutive day yesterday - the Executive Council tackled the issue.

But confirmation of an election postponement will not come before Friday, when a candidate nomination period ends.

Pro-government politicians have been advocating a postponement on health grounds, but the pro-democracy camp challenged the grounds for a delay, with the Civic Party considering legal action if such a decision is reached.

Exco convener Bernard Chan Charnwut admitted the coronavirus situation has made it impossible to campaign for the election, so officials had to look into the matter. But it was too early to comment on a postponement.

Former Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, who suggested a new Legco term could start on October 1 next year, cited a study from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance showing 67 countries or regions had postponed elections.

They include the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, Russia, France, India and Indonesia.

To fill the 12-month gap, he added, Lam could instruct current legislative president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen to call emergency meetings to be attended by incumbent lawmakers.

Starry Lee Wai-king, who chairs the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said yesterday: "The priority should be fighting the pandemic. We think it's [right] to make arrangements for the upcoming elections, even if it is to postpone." But the Civic Party said it was study the legality behind a postponement and would not rule out the possibility of seeking a judicial review.

The party's Cheng Tat-hung, who is eyeing a Hong Kong Island run, said: "The pro-establishment camp is using the pandemic as an excuse to postpone the election to [improve] its election prospects.

"The government has yet to decide on the arrangements regarding the start of the new academic year on September 1, so why rush a decision on the elections on September 6?"

Activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung, set for a run in Kowloon East, said citing the pandemic to postpone the elections would be "a lie."

He added: "In the past six months the government did not stem the inflow across the border, leading to the recent rebound in the number of confirmed cases."

Political commentator Allan Au Ka-lun said South Korea, Japan and Singapore held elections despite the pandemic.

He said Beijing wanted to use the pandemic as an excuse to postpone the elections to avoid a large-scale disqualification of candidates, which might draw foreign sanctions.

Secretary for food and health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said yesterday that she does not have any particular opinion on whether to postpone the election or not. Her focus is on fighting the pandemic.

Lam had said on July 19 that the plan for elections on September 6 remained unchanged.

But as the number of Covid-19 cases continued rise, the administration appeared to warm to the idea of a postponement.

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said on Monday that officials were paying close attention to how the pandemic will affect the election.

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