'Primaries' more opposition troublemaking: China Daily editorial

The nomination period for the 2020 Legislative Council General Election in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region formally starts on Saturday and runs until July 31. Yet, one week before the nomination period commenced, the opposition camp held "LegCo primaries".

This constituted a blatant challenge to the Basic Law and laid bare the opposition camp's penchant for political scheming, since there is no mechanism of "primaries" under the law of Hong Kong. The so-called primaries are not part of the electoral procedures of the Legislative Council Election or any other public elections.

A brief review of the bad behavior of the opposition legislators in the six-term LegCo will show how much dysfunctional damage and disruption they have caused the city's legislature fishing for their own ulterior political gains.

Since last year's political turmoil over the now-shelved extradition bill amendments, the opposition camp has staged one political farce after another and played dirty tricks to ratchet up violent activities in the SAR and plunge the Asian financial hub into constant chaos. They have not only instigated residents to stage violent protests but also covertly or overtly helped thugs to break into the LegCo building and deliberately vilified the police and fanned up hatred toward the police.

Apart from openly encouraging and eulogizing the violent protesters, opposition lawmakers have tried by hook or by crook to disrupt LegCo's normal operation and paralyze the SAR government. They have trumpeted a "If we burn, you burn with us" mentality and since last June, turning a blind eye to the interests of Hong Kong society and the well-being of Hong Kong residents, have engaged in filibustering and other stratagems to obstruct bills related to economic development and people's livelihoods.

The "primaries" organized by the opposition camp are neither a normal political activity nor an inner-party election, but an act to mobilize extreme anti-government and separatist forces and manipulate public opinion with the aim of seizing control of the LegCo to pursue their subversive agenda.

As such, they are a continuation of the ugly deeds of these opposition lawmakers.

After the enactment of the national security law for Hong Kong, public order in the city has gradually been restored and the residents' daily lives are returning to normal. It is essential that the upcoming LegCo election in September be carried out in accordance with the law.