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The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:

Six candidates who ran in the 2000 Legislative Council elections were publicly censured by the Electoral Affairs Commission for repeatedly breaching rules governing the display of election advertisements and its Guidelines on Election-related Activities.

They are Mr Frederick Fung Kin-kee, who led a two-person list of the Kowloon West geographical constituency; Mr Tang Siu-tong, one of the six candidates on a list of the New Territories West geographical constituency and a four-person list comprising Mr Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, Mr Chung Kong-mo, Mr Pun Kwok-wah and Mr Wong Wai-chuen of the Kowloon West geographical constituency.

The Returning Officer of the Kowloon West geographical constituency reported to the Commission that they had received 13 complaints between July 19 and September 10 alleging that Mr Fung had illegally displayed election advertisements at various places.

Investigations revealed that Mr Fung and his list had displayed some election advertisements at various places without authorisation. In some cases he failed to lodge with the Returning Officer a copy of the written permission for display, a declaration and two copies of each advertisement before displaying his election advertisements. Some of the advertisements carried no consecutive serial numbers as required.

In his representations to the Commission, Mr Fung explained that because of the scale of his campaign, his assistants might have technically broken electoral rules out of oversight. He maintained that he and his campaign assistants had endeavoured to observe electoral regulations with no intention of breaking the law.

"The Complaints Committee of the Commission has carefully examined reports from the Returning Officer and Mr Fung's representations. Evidence showed that his list had violated Section 102 of the Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (Legislative Council) Regulation and Chapter 5 of the Guidelines 10 times. Mr Fung himself flouted the rules three times," a spokesman for the Commission said.

In Mr Tang's case, there were seven complaints lodged between August 11 and September 9 about his breaching regulations on the display of election advertisements.

"The Returning Officer found all the complaints substantiated. Mr Tang and his list displayed election advertisements at various non-designated spots without authorisation. A copy of the written permission for display had not been lodged with the Returning Officer before they displayed some of the election advertisements," the spokesman said.

Mr Tang explained to the Commission that owing to the large size of his constituency, a large number of volunteers had been mobilised to help him. Some of them might have displayed election advertisements at non-designated spots by mistake and their action was beyond his control, Mr Tang said.

Nevertheless, evidence gathered showed that Mr Tang had violated Section 102 of the Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (Legislative Council) Regulation and Chapter 5 of the Guidelines four times. His list breached the rules three times.

In the case involving the four-member list led by Mr Tsang, the Returning Officer of the Kowloon West geographical constituency reported that he had received 11 complaints of the list illegally displaying election advertisements at various places between July 27 and September 9.

Investigations by the Returning Officer revealed that Mr Tsang's list had not deposited a copy of the written permission for display with the Returning Officer before displaying their election advertisements at various places in the constituency. Some of the advertisements did not carry printing details and serial numbers. A copy of the written consent of support, a declaration and two copies of each advertisement were not lodged with the Returning Officer before they displayed some election advertisements.

In his address to the Commission, Mr Tsang said that his list had well respected the electoral law and that they had acted prudently during the entire campaign. But he admitted that some of the volunteers helping them might have committed mistakes inadvertently.

Notwithstanding his explanations, there was sufficient evidence to show that his list had breached Section 102 of the Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (Legislative Council) Regulation and Chapter 5 of the Guidelines.

The spokesman said that all the candidates had been given a copy of the Guidelines when they handed in their nomination form. They should have understood the statutory requirements for displaying election advertisements and instructed their assistants accordingly. Each of them had received no fewer than three warnings from the Returning Officer concerned but still continued to commit further breaches.

"The responsibilities to observe the Guidelines should rest with the candidates themselves, who could not simply pass the buck to their assistants and other people.

"Despite repeated warnings by the relevant Returning Officer, they still knowingly broke the Guidelines and slighted the importance of a fair election. The Commission strongly deplores their behaviour. They must be censured to uphold the fairness of an election," he said.

End/Wednesday, October 18, 2000

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