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The Electoral Affairs Commission briefed candidates of the 2012 Legislative Council Election on important points to note when conducting electioneering activities at a briefing session today (August 3). While the session was in progress, a person wanted to bring petition material to the venue to stage a protest against one or more participants. As staff members had reasons to believe that he would behave in a way that would interrupt the briefing and disturb the other participants, he was not allowed to enter the venue with the petition material. He was allowed to enter the venue later after he gave up bringing along with him the petition material. However, once he was allowed entry, he acted in a way that interrupted the briefing and led to its brief suspension. The briefing resumed only after he stopped his behaviour.
The purpose of the session is to brief the candidates important parts of the electoral guidelines to ensure that the election will be conducted in an open, fair and honest manner. It is a serious event. The Registration and Electoral Office all along respects the freedom of expression. But participants of the briefing are expected to observe the rules of the venue and not to cause nuisance to the participants
and obstruct the conduct of the briefing.
Ends/Friday, August 3, 2012
Issued at HKT 22:50
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