2016年多名民主派立法會議員當選人，遭香港特區政府取消資格（DQ=Disqualification），今年恐將於香港區議會選舉中重演。14日包含參選海怡西選區的黃之鋒在內，至少有4名區議會候選人收到選舉主任來信，質疑「港獨」是「民主自決」的選項、「光復香港 時代革命」等問題，而候選人的回覆將決定其候選資格，疑為DQ候選人鋪路。
下月24日舉行的區議會換屆選舉，提名期本周四結束，建制派及政府明知選情不利，一直放風押後選舉，而其實民主派需先過選戰第一關，即獲確認參選資格，唯大部分民主派候選人至今仍未獲選舉主任回覆，其中民主黨99名報名參選人中，只有22人獲確認，該黨今日將向多區選舉主任發律師信跟進。
出戰南區海怡西選區的黃之鋒昨晚在社交網發文，指已收到該區選舉主任馬周佩芬來信，要求他10月15日下午4時正或之前，就其擁護《基本法》聲明作進一步回覆，根據他貼出信件，選舉主任再就黃與眾志關係作查詢，並重提眾志「民主自決」綱領及相關文章，要求他交代是否支持港人自決前途、自決前途是否包括港獨、以及他若支持有關主張，如何不違背他擁護《基本法》聲明。之前港府曾利用相同資料，DQ眾志周庭參加立會補選，而黃之鋒稱會在今天下午公開他的回覆，並再次重申：「我有權參選，政府無權篩選」。
政府早前不斷放風如岀現混亂等，或將會押後區選，甚至取消選舉。蔡子強、張達明、張楚勇、李詠怡、鍾劍華等學者昨日舉行記者會，促政府勿借故押後或取消區選，並不要再取消的參選人的資格，確保選舉公平、公正。
In 2016, a number of elected democratic legislators were disqualified (DQ=Disqualification) by the Hong Kong Government. Looks like it will be repeated this year in the Hong Kong District Council election. On 14 Oct, Joshua Wong, who is running at South Horizons West district, and at least 4 other candidates received a letter from the Returning Officer (RO) questioning that “Hong Kong independence” is an option for “democratic self-determination” plus “free Hong Kong, the revolution of the times” and other issues. The candidates’ reply will determine the eligibility of their candidacy. Apparently, the government is paving the way to DQ the candidates in a similar fashion.
The district council election will be held on the 24 November, the nomination period will end on this Thursday. The pro-establishment faction and the government, knowing that the election results is likely unfavorable to them, is already making excuses that the election could be postponed. In fact, the democratic candidates must first pass the first hurdle to be confirmed as eligible for the election. Most of the democratic candidates have not yet received a confirmation from the RO. Only 22 of the 99 Democratic Party candidates have been confirmed. The Party will issue a lawyer’s letter to the district ROs today on this issue.
Joshua Wong, who is contesting in South Horizons West in the Southern District, issued a message on the social network 13 October, saying that he had received a letter from the district’s RO, Dorothy Ma, asking him to clarify his statement in support for the Basic Law at or before 4:00 pm on 15 October. The RO enquired about the relationship between Wong and the Demosisto Party, which platform includes “Democratic Self-Determination”. Wong was asked to explain whether he supports self-determination for HongKongers and whether self-determination includes the option of Hong Kong independence. And if he supports the idea, how can he not violate his “Basic Law” support statement. Before, the Hong Kong Government used the same arguement to disqualify Agnes Chou Ting from running in the Legislative Council by-election. Joshua Wong said that he would reply openly this afternoon and reiterated: “I have the right to stand for election and the government has no right to pre-screen.”
The government has said that the district council election will postponed or even canceled if there were chaos. Choi Chi-keung, Cheung Tat-ming, Cheung Chor-yung, Lee Wing-yi, Chung Kin-wah and other scholars held a press conference yesterday to urge the government not to postpone or cancel the district election, and not to disqualify the candidates again to ensure a fair and just election.
