Hong Kong’s “patriots-only” legislature has withdrawn the traditional farewell motion to mark the end of the term, with the House Committee citing feedback from lawmakers expressing concerns over election “fairness.”
Starry Lee, chair of the House Committee, announced the decision on Tuesday, a day before the Valedictory Motion was scheduled to be delivered, saying that the lawmakers’ final remarks might influence the elections in December. The nomination period will begin on Friday.
“It was a difficult choice,” Lee said. But she added that withdrawing the motion would allow lawmakers to “focus on legislative work and ensure the election’s fairness.”
The Valedictory Motion, a post-Handover LegCo tradition, allows each legislator to deliver a speech within the chamber to say goodbye and reflect on their time in office.
Earlier, on Monday evening, Ming Pao reported that LegCo was considering scrapping the farewell motion to avoid “embarrassing” scenes.
According to the document previously uploaded to the LegCo website, the Valedictory Motion, to be moved by Lee, stated that the current legislative term “has successfully concluded its work and wishes for the smooth formation of the Eighth LegCo to continue serving the people of Hong Kong.”
The document has since been deleted.
The current legislature took office in January 2022, after Beijing passed a resolution in 2021 to overhaul Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure only “patriots” can run for office and hold power in LegCo.
‘Sensitive remarks’
Lawmaker Doreen Kong said last week that she would announce her decision whether to run for a second term at the final LegCo meeting on Wednesday.
Kong’s decision is being closely watched, given that she is perceived as one of the more outspoken members of the opposition-free legislature, which has been seen as “passive” and lacking insight.
On Tuesday, Lee dismissed suggestions that the decision to withdraw the motion was made in light of concerns that “sensitive remarks” might be made during the meeting.
“Legislators can still make use of different channels to make any remarks or voice opinions openly to the press or to the public,” Lee added.
She said she received feedback from lawmakers, as well as views from “outside the legislature,” but stopped short of specifying which parties she was referring to or what the opinions were.
She said that each term “has its own issues to handle,” citing previous instances of filibustering when democrats still held seats in the legislature.
In a Facebook post shared shortly after the House Committee’s announcement, outgoing lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen urged Lee to reconsider, saying that the withdrawal would “create an impression that the room for expression in the legislature has narrowed.”
The Facebook post has since been removed.
Lawmaker Paul Tse said on Tuesday that it was “rather regrettable” that the motion was withdrawn.
As the sixth legislative term came to a close in 2021, about a year after the enactment of Beijing’s national security law in Hong Kong, Tse said in his closing remarks that it was “undeniable” people were in a mental state akin to “paranoia” under the legislation.
But he backed the law, saying he believed “overcorrection” was necessary in order to put to rest disaffection and resentment in society.
See also: Veteran Hong Kong lawmaker Michael Tien not to run in upcoming ‘patriots only’ legislative race
As of Tuesday afternoon, a total of 21 lawmakers in the legislature had decided to bow out of the December race.
Ten of the lawmakers are septuagenarians, including Chan Kin-por, 71, deputy chair of the House Committee, who attended the Tuesday press conference.
Local media outlets have cited rumours about an age limit barring veteran lawmakers from staying in the legislature.
