Opinion | Opposition made the right decision to stay in Legco and start political healing in Hong Kong

Last week, all but three of the Legislative Council’s opposition members decided to remain for the extended one-year term. I’m glad they are staying. It is a good thing for the legislature, and for Hong Kong.

Some observers on the pro-Beijing political side are happy about this, too. Having opposition parties in the legislature gives the body needed legitimacy. But others think the pan-democrat Legco members who were disqualified in July from running in the next elections should quit for the interim term. Others are exhorting the pan-democratic members to behave.

Statements like this only feed the feelings of mutual mistrust and divisiveness that have been tearing Legco – and Hong Kong society – apart. Although we certainly are not as divided as the United States, where every public issue from Covid-19 to the appointment of a Supreme Court judge becomes an occasion for toxic political warfare, we have unfortunately been drifting in that direction.

The deep rift between pan-democrats and pro-establishment forces in Legco has become so bad that this year, at the end of the session, the groups refused to come together for the traditional end-of-term photo.

Although political issues such as universal suffrage and the June 4 vigil to remember the Tiananmen crackdown remained sticking points, we often did succeed in reaching across the aisle to draft and pass legislation that improved lives and livelihoods, and created a fairer society.