Rita Fan Hsu Laitai, former Hong Kong member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. [Photo/China Daily]
Former head of Hong Kong's legislature Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai has slammed opposition parties for placing politics before public health by holding crowded events despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fan, speaking on Tuesday, said the opposition held public activities including regular anti-government assemblies in early July and so-called primary polls on July 11 and 12, days before the third wave of the outbreak struck the city.
Fan, also a former Hong Kong member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, made the remarks in an interview with China Daily, at a time when the city's COVID-19 tally has reached 2,019 cases.
The opposition camp set up 251 polling stations across the city during the two-day "primary election", and according to them, more than 600,000 voters cast their ballots.
It's dangerous to call people to line up and cast their ballots without any special precautions to prevent cross-infection, Fan said.
"The overall impression I got from the 'pre-election' is that the opposition camp cares more about their political gains than the health of their supporters," Fan said.
With the Legislative Council election, scheduled for Sept 6, drawing closer, Fan also suggested the government consider postponing the election in view of the worsening epidemic.
"This is not a suitable time for the Legislative Council election. For the election candidates, they need to campaign in the streets and reach out to the voters, but that will result in a lot of people getting together and will pose a very huge health risk. The government needs to consider and sort out a legal basis to postpone the election," she said, echoing the call of several other pro-establishment figures.
Earlier, Hong Kong Senior Counsel Ronny Tong Ka-wah, and members of the Executive Council of the Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, suggested the government invoke the Emergency Regulations Ordinance or the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirement and Directions) Regulation to delay the election for a maximum of three months. Some other experts suggested that if the election were to be delayed, the government should consider forming a provisional legislature to avoid a vacuum.
In Fan's view, postponing the election is a viable option because it's uncertain whether the outbreak can be controlled in the following month and a half.
"As far as I know, the election can only be postponed for 14 days in accordance with the electoral law," Fan suggested.
If the election could be postponed for more than 14 days until the situation becomes more stable, Fan thinks it would not only protect residents' health, but also give the Electoral Affairs Commission, the city's election watchdog, more time to mull over measures to deal with voter complaints and hold a fair and impartial election.
