Chief Executive Carrie Lam says the Government has no plans to unseat Legislative Councillor Eddie Chu, but adds it will study whether the existing legislation on elections should be amended.

Mrs Lam was responding to reporters’ questions on a proposal by some legislators to strip Mr Chu of his LegCo seat after his nomination as a candidate for the 2019 Rural Ordinary Election was declared invalid, as he did not comply with section 24 of the Rural Representative Election Ordinance.

She reiterated the Government’s support for the Returning Officer’s decision, adding it was not for her as a Chief Executive to say whether Mr Chu is qualified as a Legislative Council member.

“In our daily dealings with Legislative Council members, we respect their status and we will continue to interact with them, responding to their questions, engaging them in panel discussions and so on. It will cause no difference to how we deal with individual members of the Legislative Council.”

On whether the existing election legislation should be amended, Mrs Lam noted an internal review will be conducted because of the events that have taken place in the last two years, adding that such a review is necessary to ensure the existing legislation responds to the latest situation.

However, she deemed it unnecessary at this point to issue new guidelines.

“I don’t see the immediate need to issue guidelines because when the authority, in this case the Returning Officer, exercises his power under the legislation, one has to look at the evidence and the circumstances, so these are not the things that could be strictly and rigidly determined by guidelines.”