Allegiance to nation ‘natural precondition’

Allegiance to the country and its Constitution is a precondition for national legislators; those who do the opposite should expect to lose candidacy for the election, political commentators said on Wednesday.

Their remarks came after the presidium of Hong Kong’s electoral council for the 13th National People’s Congress disqualified 10 candidates on Wednesday.

City University of Hong Kong political commentator James Sung Lap-kung told China Daily that candidates must know well in advance about the new declaration form and it is not a surprise one was disqualified for not signing it.

“One must have known that he or she would be disqualified if failing to sign the form, and yet he still refused to do so,” said Sung. “Such action suggests that the candidate wants to be an election spoiler and misleads the public opinion.”

Sung said a Hong Kong NPC deputy should agree with the nation’s political system and operation, realize the importance of their role as a national legislator who supervises State affairs, and has sufficient time to deal with all the national documents.

Agreeing with Sung, Song Sio-chong, professor at the Research Center of Hong Kong and Macao Basic Law of Shenzhen University, said upholding the national Constitution and the Hong Kong Basic Law is a basic requirement for an NPC deputy.

Signing such a declaration and behaving in accordance with it is a part of the application procedure, Song argued. Those failing to do so should expect to be disqualified, he added.

Also, advocating “Hong Kong independence” is violating the Constitution and the Basic Law, Song stressed.

He said Hong Kong NPC deputies should have “both integrity and ability” — the latter includes comprehensive knowledge about the country’s political systems to be able to discuss policies and create legislation for the nation.