Councillor sees double standards over remit

The chairman of Southern District Council, Lo Kin-hei, says the government gave no political leeway to district councils following the pro-democracy camp’s landslide victory in the 2019 elections.

Speaking on RTHK ‘s Letter to Hong Kong, Lo said for years district councils had often discussed territory-wide matters when they were dominated by the pro-establishment camp. But he said when the pro-democracy camp took over, the government would only discuss matters within the council’s remit, meaning that the government had in effect “changed the rules”.

“District Councils have long been the most democratically-elected institutions in Hong Kong. As representatives of the people, we try to raise issues that concerned our constituents most. However, time and again, the government chose to respond in a non-cooperative manner blaming the councils for ultra vires,” he said.

“Yes, sometimes, the issues we raised were not strictly local or municipal, but that was how the councils worked for decades. We discussed topics territory-wide like constitutional reform, Tomorrow Lantau plan, refuse charges, and many government policies in all different areas in the past when the pro-Beijing camp got hold of the councils.”

Beijing’s electoral reforms for the SAR are expected to see all 117 district councillors removed from the Election Committee for the Chief Executive.