In a case decided by the territory’s high court, four opposition lawmakers were kicked out of the legislature, shifting the balance in Beijing’s favor.
Hong Kong’s high-court has ruled in favor of expelling four opposition lawmakers from the city’s legislature in a case that critics say calls the territory’s independence into question.
Prominent opposition figure “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, who was sworn in last October, is among the lawmakers ordered removed by the Court of First Instance for modifying the oath of office. He was accused of adding words to his oath and for reciting the oath in a tone that “expressed a doubt on or disrespect of the status of the [People’s Republic of China] as a legitimate sovereign of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ” according to the court. Nathan Law Kwun-chung, Lau Siu-lai and Edward Yiu Chung-yim also lost their seats in the Hong Kong Legislature.
Two other opposition lawmakers had previously been expelled.
The South China Morning Post writes that the latest expulsions have “wide implications on the bargaining power of the democratic bloc” in the legislature.
