2020 HK LegCo Elections｜With newcomers and old-timers, 18 nomination forms received so far

The nomination period for the 2020 Legislative Council (LegCo) General Election in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) starts from Saturday (July 18) and runs until July 31, which is the first nomination since the Hong Kong National Security Law was enacted at the beginning of the month.

Returning officers received 18 nomination forms for the five geographical constituencies and the 29 functional constituencies on the first day of the nomination period for this year's LegCo election. Among the 18 nomination papers filed, eight were for the geographical constituencies while 10 for functional constituencies.

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) has sent out 12 teams – seven in the geographical constituencies four in the traditional functional constituencies, and one in the District Council (Second) functional constituency, more commonly known as the "Super District Council"– to contest the election, with 55 people in total and eight people will seek a second consecutive term. 

Besides, current LegCo member Junius Ho Kwan-yiu has announced via his social media platform that he will enroll as a nominee of the New Territories West for Geographical Constituencies.

Meanwhile, Tang Fei, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers (HKFEW), also has announced that he will sign up for the election, which is the first time for the HKFEW to send a representative to run for LegCo.

Horace Cheung Kwok-Kwan, vice president of DAB, led a young and fresh team for Hong Kong Island to attend the election. These new faces are composed of Joseph Chan Hoi-wing, Eastern District Office Community Organizer; Nicholas Muk Ka-Chun, Wan Chai District Office Community Organizer; Cheung Wai Nam, Southern District Office Community Organizer; and Timothy Lau Tin-ching, Central and Western District Office Community Organizer.

DAB said that the team's average age was only 30.4 years old, believed to be the youngest team in the pro-establishment camp. Among them, Muk is a millennial and a junior high school teacher who teaches Chinese history and often shares his knowledge of Chinese history on YouTube. His fans and students give him a nickname, Muk Sir.

The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions announced today (July 19) that they would send out five teams in the upcoming LegCo election, including three in New Territories West, Kowloon East and Hong Kong Island, while other two run in Labor functional constituencies.

Record-breaking number of registered voters

The LegCo General Election will be held on September 6, with a total of 70 members, 35 from geographical constituencies, and 35 from functional constituencies, will be returned. The number of registered voters has reached a record-breaking 4.46 million this year.

The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) reminded all candidates of rules about the nomination and stressed the necessity of fully understanding and upholding the Basic Law.

"Any candidates who wish to run for the election must, following Section 40(1)(b)(i) of the Legislative Council Ordinance, sign a declaration in the nomination form to the effect that the person will uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the HKSAR. Otherwise, he or she is not a validly nominated candidate," a spokesman for the EAC told reporters on Thursday (July 16).

Most Democratic candidates who won the primaries supported a more aggressive fight in the legislature, where they wanted a majority of seats (over 35 seats). But meanwhile, many pro-democracy candidates fear disqualification of their election validity.

Unruly lawmakers swiped as LegCo session wrapped up

LegCo President Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen took a swipe at unruly opposition lawmakers on Friday (July 17) as the legislature wrapped up its four-year term, pointing to the record number of foul acts that had disrupted and even paralyzed the council's operations.

Leung said it was like a roller-coaster ride for the chamber with worsening order at meetings and warned that the overall political environment might dictate future executive-legislative relations.

Twenty-five legislators had to be evicted, some forcibly, from meetings 97 times for unruly behavior – 30 % more than in the previous legislative term.

Former Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-Ying blamed the city's general political climate for the discord in the legislature and urged future LegCo members to understand that serving the people of Hong Kong remains their primary objective. He said they should learn to cooperate with and respect others with different views.

Leung recalled that one of the most appalling incidents was when three opposition lawmakers hurled rotten plants and foul-smelling liquids during two council meetings on May 28 and June 4 in an attempt to disrupt the proceedings. The three were later ordered to pay more than HK$ 252,000 for disinfection and cleaning work.

According to Leung, the legislative session had lost more than 200 hours of meeting time due to the extensive damage caused to the LegCo building and its facilities by radical protesters on July 1 last year, repeated filibustering by the opposition during bill-vetting House Committee meetings from October to May, and the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, the sixth term LegCo session saw fewer meeting hours than the previous two terms, with only 141 meetings held, taking up 1,711 hours.

Leung said the government had introduced 90 bills in the past four years, 73 of which had been passed on Friday (July 17) afternoon. Notable high-profile measures included the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Co-location) Bill passed on June 14, 2018, and the National Anthem Bill, which was passed on June 4.

Among the 18 nomination forms received for geographical constituencies as of 6 p.m. yesterday (July 18), Hong Kong Island has received three nominations with two group nominations and one individual nomination, Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan, Joseph Chan Hoi-wing, Nicholas Muk Ka-chun, Cheung Wai-nam and Timothy Lau Tin-ching as a group representing DAB, Chong Tsz-yan and Alvin Cheng Kam-mun as a group representing Civic Passion, and Tang Wai-Chun as an individual representing Hong Kong Young Heart.

New Territories East has received three individual nominations, Lam Hak-lam, Chan Yuk-Ngor Estella (Independent), Wong Siu-kin (Civic Passion), while New Territories West has received one individual nomination, Cheng Chung-Tai (Civic Passion).

Kowloon West has received one individual nomination, Lee On-Kau (Hong Kong Policy Change).