Pro-democracy lawmakers yesterday filed legal challenges to the election of Hong Kong’s new leader just days after he took office amid the biggest demonstrations in the territory in nearly a decade.
Organizers said 400,000 people took to the streets on Sunday to protest against Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s (梁振英) leadership and Beijing’s interference in local affairs, hours after Leung was sworn in as chief executive before Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho (何俊仁) said he filed two separate legal cases with the high court yesterday, seeking to oust Leung on grounds that the leader allegedly made false statements during the election campaign.
“I just want to uphold the integrity of the system to make sure we have a fair election,” said Ho, who contested against Leung and another candidate in the leadership election in March, but finished third.
“Our system is already less than democratic, it’s undemocratic, at least the minimum we want is that the process was held strictly in accordance with the laws,” the lawyer said.
Leung was picked by a 1,200-strong committee packed with pro-Beijing elites in March in a process dubbed a “small circle” election, where the territory’s 7 million population does not get to choose its own leader by popular vote.
The legal challenges were centered on Leung’s pledge that his house had no illegal improvement works — a controversial issue in Hong Kong that saw support for Leung’s main rival Henry Tang (唐英年) dramatically plunge during the race after an illegal basement was found at his home.
However, Leung, a surveyor by profession, was forced to apologize last week after local media discovered his home in an upscale neighborhood had six illegal structures, and to quickly demolish them.
Citing local laws, Ho claimed Leung had engaged in “illegal conduct” by making a “false and misleading statement” and asked the court to declare that Leung was not duly elected, according to a copy of the court filing.
Ho is also seeking an injunction to stop Leung from acting in the office to which he has been elected.
The court has yet to fix a date to hear both cases.
Maverick lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄) filed a similar lawsuit on Wednesday to challenge the leader’s win.
Even before he began his term, Leung had already attracted protests drawing thousands of people decrying Beijing interference in the leadership poll, but he has urged the public to work with him.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
RSS