Did CY Leung mess up his own oath? Legal challenge over Hong Kong leader’s 2012 swearing in

Writ claims he omitted ‘Hong Kong’ and that three pro-Bejing lawmakers last month botched theirs too, including one sounding like she said ‘sour oath’

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Kwok Cheuk-kin outside the High Court on Friday. Photo: David Wong

Published: 1:45pm, 11 Nov 2016Updated: 10:59am, 30 Nov 2016

A retired civil servant with a history of launching legal challenges against the local government is taking aim at Hong Kong’s leader and three pro-establishment lawmakers in the latest twist in an oath saga that prompted Beijing to interpret the city’s mini-constitution.

In a writ filed on Friday, Kwok Cheuk-kin asked the High Court to declare Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s 2012 oath invalid when he was sworn in as the city’s leader after securing 689 votes from a 1,200-strong election committee. Kwok cited media reports that Leung and three lawmakers who were sworn in last month had skipped and mispronounced words during their oaths.

Watch: Leung Chun-ying’s 2012 oath

He urged the court to declare the October 12 oaths of pro-establishment lawmakers Ann Chiang Lai-wan, Abraham Razack and Wong Ting-kwong invalid.

The development follows an unprecedented judicial challenge mounted last month by Leung and Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung against two democratically-elected localist lawmakers, Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching. The pair sparked uproar when they pronounced the country in a manner deemed as an insult to China during their Legco swearing-in ceremony on October 12. Yau also unfurled a banner bearing the words “Hong Kong is not China”.

The episode prompted the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to issue an interpretation of Basic Law Article 104 on Monday ahead of a court ruling on the administration’s challenge.

The interpretation stated lawmakers must be “sincere” in taking their oaths of office and that those who do not comply face instant disqualification. Kwok argued the ruling cast new light on all the city’s swearing-in ceremonies for public office, including that of the chief executive in 2012.