The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government will investigate illegal acts in opposition camp's so-called "primaries" for the election of the Legislative Council (LegCo) as a large number of complaints on the activity have been filed with the government.
Residents complained that the "primaries" may interfere with and manipulate the LegCo election, severely jeopardize the electoral process and cause unfairness, violate the prohibition on group gathering amid the COVID-19 epidemic, and lack protection of personal data, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau of the HKSAR government said Monday in a statement.
The organizer of the "primaries" vowed to veto the government's budget after winning the election, according to the complaints. The bureau said the aim of the organizer may lead to committing the offense of subversion as stipulated in the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR.
The law states that a person shall be guilty of an offense if he or she seriously interferes in, disrupts, undermines the performance of duties and functions in accordance with the law by the body of central power of the People's Republic of China or the body of power of the HKSAR by force or threat of force or other unlawful means.
The government is conducting an in-depth investigation and will immediately refer the case to relevant law enforcement agencies in case of any violation of the relevant laws, the bureau said.
The bureau reiterated the commitment to ensuring that public elections are held in an open, fair and honest manner and said the format, procedure and results of the so-called "primaries" held by the opposition camp are not in line with the law.
