Hong Kong district councilors refusing to take oath to be disqualified: Carrie Lam

HONG KONG, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam Tuesday said district councilors who refuse to attend the oath-taking ceremony will be disqualified.

At a press briefing ahead of the Executive Council meeting, Lam said that as of Saturday, there were 479 members in the sixth-term District Council, in which 260 of them resigned and eight were disqualified. The remaining 211 members have to take oaths.

Lam said the HKSAR government has sent out invitations of the oath-taking ceremony to serving district councilors. They will take oaths in batches and the first batch will be on Sept. 10.

Lam has authorized the secretary for home affairs of the HKSAR government to act as the oath administrator in accordance with the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance.

The district councilors will be informed whether their oaths taken are valid or not soon after the ceremony, Lam said.

As for questionable oaths, the oath-takers will be give chances to explain and the oath administrator will make the judgement, Lam said, adding that if an oath taken was considered invalid, the oath-taker will be disqualified from being a district councilor.

The Public Offices (Candidacy and Taking Up Offices) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2021 came into effect in May, 2021. It requires all public officers including district councilors to uphold the HKSAR Basic Law and bear allegiance to the HKSAR.

Lam said that the ordinance is important and conducive to upholding the constitutional order of the HKSAR, ensuring "patriots administering Hong Kong", and would contribute to the steadfast and successful implementation of "one country, two systems".