Five Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers said they were robbed of their right to speak on their resignations in the legislature after pro-Beijing politicians unexpectedly walked out yesterday.
The five, who resigned on Tuesday in the hope that the resulting elections would spark a referendum on universal suffrage, were about to address the legislature when about 10 lawmakers left the meeting.
The walk-out was announced by Wong Kwok-hing (王國興) from the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, which has political affiliations with Beijing.
“Wasting taxpayers’ money for the by-election. Shameful,” Wong shouted at the democrats with a thumb-down as his allies walked out of the chamber one-by-one.
The meeting had to be adjourned to next month as fewer than 30 of the 60 members remained. The resignations, which will take effect tomorrow, were aimed at drawing attention to the slow pace of democratic reforms in the territory.
Only half of Hong Kong’s 60-seat legislature is directly elected from five geographical constituencies. The remaining “functional constituency” seats are largely selected by pro-China business elite.
The democrats condemned the walk-out as “shameful and ugly” and said it was the latest of a series of tactics deployed by Beijing and pro-establishment politicians to attack their campaign.
“There has been a heavy chorus of artillery going around town these few weeks and there is a central theme to all these,” Audrey Eu (余若薇), the Civic Party leader who spoke for the five lawmakers, told a press conference convened immediately after the walk-out.
“It shows that they are afraid of people’s will. They are afraid that people will be given a right to vote in the referendum,” Eu said.
She said by walking out, their opponents had deprived the five politicians of the right to explain the grounds for their resignations. It also prevented their resignation statements from being recorded in official documents.
One of the lawmakers resigning, “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄), mocked his pro-Beijing rivals for copying his tactics.
“After condemning me so many times for disrupting the meetings, they are now doing it themselves. Shame on them,” he said.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Africa has established the continent’s first space agency to boost Earth observation and data sharing at a time when a more hostile global context is limiting the availability of climate and weather information. The African Space Agency opened its doors last month under the umbrella of the African Union and is headquartered in Cairo. The new organization, which is still being set up and hiring people in key positions, is to coordinate existing national space programs. It aims to improve the continent’s space infrastructure by launching satellites, setting up weather stations and making sure data can be shared across
RSS