Carrie Lam Impeachment Fails

The government has done nothing to end the protests now into sixth month

So it turns out there is a mechanism to impeach the chief executive of Hong Kong, which was attempted today, but failed, thanks to spineless pro-Beijing politicians who decided to side with the government no matter what.

A motion was made to impeach Carrie Lam today, but failed

The motion to remove Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor from office was launched by Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu under Article 73 of the Basic Law, but failed to pass after a vote of 36 to 26 against. The votes broke down to 16 votes for and 14 against in the geographical constituency and 10 votes for and 22 against in the functional constituency. There needed to be a majority on both constituencies to pass.

While Lam can breathe a sigh of relief, it wasn't without some blistering criticism from pro-Beijing lawmakers. They were pissed at the government for leading them down the garden path to support the extradition bill in the first place, which resulted in their dismal performance in the recent District Council elections.

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king lambasted the government for doing too little too late to end the protests.

Starry Lee criticized the government, but voted against motion

Addressing Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung in the Legislative Council, Lee said: "... you said last month that nothing can be done to stop radicals from destroying our tunnel facilities. Do you know how many people were so angry about what you said?" Lee said.

"The justice secretary was not at the forefront in explaining the government's position over the past six months... and the undersecretaries have not said a word to help."

But in the end Lee said her party would vote against the impeachment motion because removing Lam would create more chaos and a power vacuum.

Meanwhile Business and Professionals Alliance's Abraham Razack, who represents the real estate sector, described the government in "omnishambles" for not offering a political solution to the social unrest.

Abraham Razack said Lam was "aloof" and "uncompromising"

He too said Lam should stay on as chief executive, though he criticized her for being "aloof and uncompromising".

It was also reported that the liaison office was approaching pro-Beijing lawmakers to see how they would vote. The influence on Hong Kong politics is much too obvious and causes resentment all round.

But perhaps the liaison office is too clueless to realize that.

In the meantime, if these protests continue, and at this rate it looks like they will, the pro-Beijing politicians may not be able to stand it much longer and if the motion under Article 73 is launched again, they just might side with the pro-democracy side.

We all want this to end, and one way is to get rid of Lam. At least it would be a step forward after six months of protests.

Last week's turnout was around 380,000 in Tsim Sha Tsui

Sunday will see its first large-scale march from Causeway Bay to Central since August 18... it seems an eternity ago after what has happened.

It's interesting the Hong Kong Police are allowing these protest marches to happen, though the one last weekend in Tsim Sha Tsui was revoked the Letter of No Objection for the march an hour after it started, which gave the force reason to fire tear gas on protesters...

It never ends, does it?

Celebrating Halloween with Tear Gas

Sheung Wan got a tear gas buffet around 10pm tonight

As expected, some people did not let warnings from the Hong Kong police deter them to celebrate Halloween. However there weren't many places for them to go. At around 4pm, the organizers of the Lan Kwai Fong Halloween party started setting up water barricades -- the first time they did this.

Not only did this limit the number of people who could be in the already narrow streets of Lan Kwai Fong and D'Aguilar, but also just the sight of these barricades surely put off a lot of people from even bothering to go in.

A person as the Prince Edward MTR station

And in fact the police didn't even want revelers to go into the area (much to the chagrin of restaurant and bar managers and staff in Lan Kwai Fong). So on top of the water barricades, the police surrounded the entrance to the area to further deter people from going in.

It's really overkill and unnecessary.

Nevertheless, people who came out knew they would have to take precautions, and they completely flouted the mask ban by covering up their faces one way or another. And their costumes? They didn't have to look far for inspiration of a political kind.

Many wore masks like the one for V for Vendetta, or painted their faces. Some chose to dress up like Joaquin Phoenix's character Joker, as a statement to stand up against an oppressive government.

One person actually created an elaborate costume of the Prince Edward MTR station, with their head where the station entrance is, and body had the calendar day of August 31, when passengers were brutally attacked by riot police in the station. Some believe that three people are missing and presumed dead, but the government has said medical staff didn't count the number of injured properly.

Today is the second month anniversary of the attack and so the person's costume was very apt tonight.

Many took on the Joker look for Halloween tonight

Another dressed up as someone who had been water cannoned by the police complete with blue dye. In protest lexicon, the person was "Smurfed", referring to the characters whose bodies are blue. Some of my colleagues have been "Smurfed", and have told me they literally have to scrub their skin raw to get rid of the blue dye.

Or how about dressing up as a tear gas canister? All the details are written out on the canister, including the expiry date that has already passed. An inexpensive yet clever costume.

Hong Kong people's creativity is fantastic -- even five months later they are channeling their anger and frustrations into creative satirical costumes.

However, the police have been out in force all over town and Mongkok was the first to have tear gas unleashed around 8pm. There are clips of a young man being pepper sprayed in the face by the police at point blank range, while a woman dressed as Maleficent complete with horns, taunted the police to "spray her ass" and got tackled and arrested.

Or how about being "Smurfed"?

The outrageous behaviour of the police make Hongkongers believe their beloved city is fast sliding into a police state. That is why people are pushing back against the force's actions as much as they can to try to tell them this ridiculous and need to step back and realize what they are doing is not only unlawful but also dangerous.

Recently the government has been mulling the idea of an independent investigation into police brutality. Seems like it's a trial balloon to gauge reaction.

But perhaps Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor should listen to Abraham Shek Lai-him or Abraham Razack, a pro-Beijing lawmaker who represents the property sector in the Legislative Council.

In a recent interview he said the government cannot solve the current crisis with housing policies.

"You cannot buy dignity," he said. "Their five demands did not mention that they want a house. The five demands of young people are that they want justice, fairness and transparency."

Shek himself opposed the extradition bill many months ago and says the government needs to listen to the people.

Many wear the V for Vendetta mask these days

"The rule of law of Hong Kong and the mainland are different. By suddenly plugging this hole -- combining common law, Hong Kong law, and the country's law -- then we will lose [the difference]," he said.

"The three million people [who marched] were not against her. They wanted to protect our existing system."

He also said the government wasn't doing enough to solve the political problem, and the education system should not be blamed for the current situation.

"Our education system was not problematic. We taught many young people to be responsible. They go to [protests], regardless if they are yellow, blue, black or white, because they have ideals," Shek said. "Regardless if they are wrong or not, we have to listen to them. How do we listen? By starting an independent investigation."

Low-tech costume as a tear gas canister. She was busy tonight

Will Lam listen to Shek? He seems to have a very good understanding of the situation. 

Or maybe she's waiting to hear back what Beijing says following the 4th Plenum to see if she still has a job or not...