LegCo polls: Vetting panel clears all but one hopeful

The Candidate Eligibility Review Committee on Friday declared valid the nominations of 153 persons for Hong Kong's upcoming Legislative Council election, while disqualifying one hopeful vying for a seat in the medical and health service sector.

Lau Tsz-chun, a registered nurse in psychiatry, was disqualified as he is a part-time employer of the Hong Kong government, John Lee Ka-chiu, head of the seven-member committee, said in a press conference.

"One candidate for the Medical and Health Services functional constituency is determined as invalidly nominated as he is a prescribed public officer under section 39 (5)(f) of the Legislative Council Ordinance, and is thus disqualified from being nominated as a candidate pursuant to section 39(1)(a)(ii) of the Ordinance," the government said in a press release.

Of those deemed eligible to contest in the election slated for Dec 19, 35 will run for geographical constituencies, 67 for functional constituencies, and 51 for the Election Committee constituency.

Lee, who is also the chief secretary for administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, said the 153 eligible candidates come from various sectors and have different political stances, which is in line with the principle of balanced participation and broad representation.

"The government will go all-out to ensure that the LegCo election is fair and equitable," he said.

He reiterated that the vetting process is necessary to examine whether the candidates uphold the Basic Law and bear allegiance to the Hong Kong SAR.

Also on Friday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor specified Jan 1, 2022 as the commencement date of the seventh Legislative Council. The first meeting of the new LegCo will be held at 11 am on Jan 12 next year, she said.

The LegCo election will be the second major election held under the city's revamped electoral system. It will elect 90 lawmakers – 40 from the Election Committee, 30 from the functional constituencies, and 20 from the geographical constituencies. Total 620 polling stations will be set up to serve more than 4.4 million voters in the election.