Solemn vow
Vincent Cheng Wing-shun (left) takes his oath of office at the Legislative Council. Cheng, a member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong who won the Kowloon West seat in the March 11 by-election, and three other lawmakers who were elected in the by-election were sworn in on Wednesday.
The four Legislative Council members who won in the recent by-election were sworn in on Wednesday morning without incident. They all took the LegCo oath according to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and relevant Hong Kong law, while members of the public watched on TV. The two opposition lawmakers-elect pledged allegiance to the HKSAR of the People’s Republic of China, and to uphold the Basic Law. This came as no surprise because they could not afford to squander their by-election wins in the same way their predecessors had done with their election victories upon taking the LegCo oath in 2016. Furthermore, a smooth swearingin is merely the first of many tests the two new opposition lawmakers must pass in order to win reelection in 2020.
The LegCo by-election was held because four opposition lawmakers-elect violated relevant provisions of the Basic Law and the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance while taking the LegCo oath after winning seats in the 2016 LegCo general election and were consequently disqualified by the High Court last year. The opposition camp went all out in a bid to take all four LegCo seats back in the March 11 by-election but could win just two. Since the three geographical constituencies were known “strongholds” of pro-opposition voters, losing one in Kowloon West to the pro-establishment camp is widely seen as a watershed upset for members of the opposition. Many analysts have offered their takes on why the opposition camp lost the seat, but several of the commentators missed the mark for some reason.
Opposition parties can blame anyone or anything they want to for losing two of four by-election battles but they must admit they have been losing voter support in recent years, especially since the illegal “Occupy Central” movement in the fall of 2014. The movement failed to achieve its declared goal but did propel some separatists to political prominence. After winning the 2016 LegCo election some opposition members misread the situation so much that they lost everything to self-indulgence. Now the opposition camp has two less seats and the other side is two stronger in the legislature. If they don’t learn a lesson from this striking setback and mend their ways accordingly, they will further alienate themselves from the public in the years to come.
As for the two new opposition lawmakers, they need to keep in mind that they have less than three years to prove they can live up to the LegCo oath as well as the expectations of Hong Kong society. They must follow the “one country, two systems” principle to avoid crossing the bottom line, and need to truly respect public will. After all, their political careers ultimately hinge on their integrity as the public sees it, not how they advertise it or what their parties claim to stand for.