Voters wait in line outside the District Council polling station at Hong Kong Teachers' Association Lee Heng Kwei Secondary School in Tai Po, Hong Kong, in the morning of Nov 24, 2019. (PHOTO / CHINA DAILY)
HONG KONG – The Hong Kong government on Friday declared eight District Council seats vacant following the disqualification of opposition councilor Ted Hui Chi-fung and the resignation of seven others.
Hui, a lawmaker and elected member of the Central and Western District Council Chung Wan Constituency, had been consecutively absent from all the meetings of the council since Jan 28 this year, the government said in a release issued on Friday.
Ted Hui, a lawmaker and elected member of the Central and Western District Council Chung Wan Constituency, had been consecutively absent from all the meetings of the council since Jan 28 this year
He failed to obtain the consent of the council for his absence before the end of the disqualifying period, and therefore disqualified from holding office since May 29 in accordance with section 24(5) of the District Councils Ordinance (Cap. 547), the government said.
Hui, who faced at least nine charges in three criminal cases related to alleged improper behavior at the Legislative Council and for his role in the 2019 social unrest, absconded during a trial late last year.
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In a court hearing on Nov 6, 2020, Hui was granted bail that allowed him to leave the city for the purposes of work. After a three-day official visit in Denmark, Hui announced on social media on Dec 3 that he was seeking exile abroad.
The seven elected District Councilors who had resigned were Jason Chan Ka-yau of the Eastern District Council Fortress Hill Constituency, Fu Kai-lam of Fort Street Constituency and Tsang Yan-ying of the King Yee Constituency; Ho Chi-wang of the Central and Western District Council Water Street Constituency and Wong Kin-ching of the Kennedy Town and Mount Davis Constituency; Leung Li of the Sai Kung District Council Kin Ming Constituency and Ting Tsz-yuen of the Sha Tin District Council Kam Ying Constituency.
Their offices have become vacant from between May 27 and June 4 this year, the government said.
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