The High Court has denied an application for an interim injunction launched by the government to block Youngspiration politicians Sixtus “Baggio” Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching from re-taking their oaths as lawmakers on Wednesday.
However, the government’s leave of application for a judicial review has been granted and a hearing is scheduled for November 3.
An urgent hearing was conducted late Tuesday evening, hours before the two democratically-elected localist lawmakers are set be sworn in again before Legislative Council President Andrew Leung Kwan-Yuen.
Their oaths were deemed invalid by Leung after being rejected by the LegCo secretary-general. Both lawmakers pronounced China as “chee-na,” which some took as an insult to Chinese people, whilst Yau seemingly pronounced “People’s Republic of China as “People’s Refucking of Chee-na.” Both displayed a banner which read “Hong Kong is not China” during the swearing-in session.
Johnny Mok Shiu-luen, representing the government, argued that it was “clear and without controversy” the two were sending a message that one can function as a lawmaker without pledging allegiance or upholding the Basic Law, as required by the city’s mini-constitution and the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance.
Article 104 of the Basic Law stipulates that members of the Legislative Council must swear to uphold the Basic Law and swear allegiance to “the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.”
Mok said that the incident could bring the legislature into disrepute by allowing them to carry out the duties of a lawmaker.
