A joint statement from Establishment District Councillors
on the amendment of the “Oaths and Declarations Ordinance” and
the “District Councils Ordinance” and the cancelation of the eligibility for district councillors who break the oath.
2021.01.25
Since the opposition district councillors took office, they have been blatantly making use of their positions to manipulate politics and oppose the Central and HKSAR governments. They put agendas and motions in the District Council meetings to smear our Nation and the HKSAR government; hang banners in the community to spreads fake news, anti-China and anti-SAR government messages; humiliate, detent and even refuse government officials from attending District Council meetings and reject funding for National Day and HKSAR Establishment Day celebrations. District Councils become their platform to oppose China and bring chaos to Hong Kong. Their behaviors clearly reflect that they do not uphold the Basic Law and are not truly devoted to the HKSAR. The functions of District Council have been hijacked and voided.
The Government is now working on legislative amendments to Oaths of Office for public officers. These amendments will decide the scope of the legislation and whom it will cover and will consider that District Council members should be given priority as public officers. The DAB agrees with the Government's judgment that although DCs are organizations with no real power in the political system, they are an important advisory body of the government. Furthermore, DCs are responsible for public affairs and members of the DCs receive public funds as their remuneration and to cover the operation costs of their offices. Members of DCs being considered as public officers under the Ordinance is a matter of course. Therefore, we urge the SAR Government to implement oath-taking arrangements for DC members as soon as possible to let the public understand DC members must uphold the Basic Law and pledge full and true allegiance to the HKSAR while also prohibiting DC members who oppose China and bring chaos to Hong Kong from becoming public officers. We also hope that the implementation of oath-taking arrangements for District Councillors will return the DCs to its proper function to act as a consultative body for the government at district level.
On the other hand, the “District Councils Ordinance” must also be amended alongside with the “Oaths and Declarations Ordinance” so as to determine the procedures and punishments for DC members who break their oath. According to section 24 of the “District Councils Ordinance” regarding the “Disqualification of elected members”, elected members can be disqualified from holding office for various reasons including becoming a judicial officer, having been found guilty of treason or found incapable due to mental incapacity and so forth. However, the Ordinance does not mention elected members breaching their oaths to be a reason for disqualification. We hereby urge the government to amend the “District Councils Ordinance” to disqualify DC members who have been found breaching oaths from holding any public office.
Total signatures: 86 persons
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