Veteran Hong Kong litigant Kwok Cheuk-kin has launched a legal challenge against the nomination system for the upcoming “patriots-only” District Council race, after democrats and some establishment figures failed to secure endorsements from nominators.
Kwok, widely known as the “king of judicial reviews,” filed his bid against the overhauled electoral system on Monday morning at the High Court, local media reported. Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, he said the new nomination system violated the city’s mini constitution, the Basic Law.
Judicial reviews are considered by the Court of First Instance and examine the decision-making processes of administrative bodies. Issues under review must be shown to affect the wider public interest.
According to the writ seen by HKFP, Kwok requested the court to repeal the requirement for candidates to receive at least three nominations from government-appointed committees to compete in the race.
“The government has required prospective district councillors to get nominations from three government-appointed committees before they can enter the race and become eligible to run. The government’s requirement is a serious contravention of the Basic Law,” he wrote.
Kwok’s submission came after the Democratic Party’s six hopefuls were shut out of the race after failing to secure enough nominations, as were the two from the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood.
The nomination period began on October 17 and ran until last Monday.
Other than the two pro-democracy parties, moderate party Third Side also failed to get enough nominations, while Roundtable, a pro-establishment group founded by entrepreneur and lawmaker Michael Tien, only secured enough nominations for one of its five hopefuls.
A week into the nomination period, Chief Executive John Lee said some might fail to get nominations because they had not gained trust from the nominators. Lawmakers and interested parties also criticised authorities’ refusal to disclose the contact details of the committee members responsible for nominating candidates.
Plans to overhaul the District Council elections were unveiled in May 2023 to ensure only “patriots” were elected, following a pro-democracy landslide at the last polls in 2019. The number of seats chosen democratically by the public was slashed to around 20 per cent, with the rest chosen by the city’s leader, government-appointed committees and officials.
Constituency boundaries were redrawn and each local council will be chaired by a government official, similar to colonial-era arrangements. All candidates will undergo national security vetting to ensure patriotism.
Kwok said on Monday he was a permanent member of the Democratic Party, naming Lee as the respondent of the judicial review, and Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang and Secretary for Justice Paul Lam as interested parties.
He cited Article 26 of the Basic Law, which stipulates that “Permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall have the right to vote and the right to stand for election in accordance with law.”
He also cited Article 11, which states that systems and policies practised in Hong Kong, “including the social and economic systems, the system for safeguarding the fundamental rights and freedoms of its residents, the executive, legislative and judicial systems, and the relevant policies,” shall be based on provisions in the Basic Law.
In an interview with state-backed newspaper Ta Kung Pao published on Monday, Chief Secretary Eric Chan said former “anti-China forces” who changed their stance would be subject to lengthy scrutiny before authorities could be convinced they had “started afresh.”
Chan chairs the District Councils Eligibility Review Committee, which is responsible for determining whether prospective candidates for the recently restricted race were “patriots.”
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