Pan-democrats launch bid in legislature to remove Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam from office

Pan-democrat lawmakers accuse Lam of making ‘many unconstitutional decisions’ in pushing forward the extradition bill and handling protests

But motion is unlikely to pass without the support of the pro-Beijing camp, which controls both the geographical and functional constituencies in legislature

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Pan-democrats allege Carrie Lam’s administration has used excessive force against peaceful protests since June, intimidating protesters with disproportionate criminal charges. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 10:09pm, 4 Dec 2019Updated: 9:25am, 5 Dec 2019

Pan-democrats have launched a bid in the legislature to remove Hong Kong’s leader from office, accusing her of making “many unconstitutional decisions” in pushing forward the highly unpopular extradition bill and handling the months-long social unrest.

The motion against Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, launched under Article 79 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, was tabled by Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung with the support of 24 other pro-democracy camp lawmakers during a full council meeting.

The motion says Lam has committed “serious breaches of law” or “dereliction of duty” in her handling of both the now-withdrawn extradition bill and the social unrest it sparked.

No vote was passed as the meeting closed at 7.30pm. The debate will continue on Thursday.

Pan-democrat lawmakers accuse Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam of making “many unconstitutional decisions” in pushing forward the extradition bill and in her handling of anti-government protests. Photo: Dickson Lee

“The chief executive who brought this disaster to Hong Kong should immediately resign,” Yeung said.