Transcript of SCMA's media session |
Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip, at a media session after attending the meeting of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Constitutional Affairs this afternoon (July 17): Reporter: How will the Government hold by-election for the six vacant LegCo seats? Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs: Basically, according to the Legislative Council Ordinance, the Clerk to LegCo will announce, through a notice published in the Gazette, to declare the existence of a vacancy of LegCo membership (within 21 days after becoming aware of it). With that declaration, the Electoral Affairs Commission would act in accordance with the legislation and the actual situation to arrange for by-election. At present, because the relevant judicial proceedings are still ongoing in respect of the "Leung Yau" case, so we are not in a position to arrive at a conclusion as to the by-election arrangements. As regards to the court judgment handed down last Friday in respect of the four persons, we are examining the judgment and we are not yet clear whether there would be further appeal, and how long the judicial proceedings will be. So at present, I don't think we are in a position to conclude definitely how the by-election will be conducted. But we will certainly closely monitor the situation and act in accordance with the relevant legislation and actual situation. (Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) Ends/Monday, July 17, 2017 Issued at HKT 17:55 NNNN |