Some of the five demands of protesters in Hong Kong are against the law and the basic rules stipulated by the principle of “One country, two systems” and the Basic Law of the special administrative region, so their implementation is impossible, the head of Hong Kong administration Carrie Lam told reporters on Thursday.
On Thursday, Lam met with reporters to answer questions about the annual political address she made the day before. The main topic that interested journalists was why in her address the head of the administration did not voice any plans to resolve the social conflict in society, which has been going on for more than four months.
Answering a question about how the authorities are going to stop the protests if they do not want to accept the demands of the demonstrators, she noted that the administration can fulfill only those conditions that do not contradict the rule of law.
Hong Kong anti-government protesters require authorities to comply with five requirements, which include abolishing the use of the term “riots” for protests on June 12, releasing all previously arrested demonstrators, conducting an independent investigation of police actions during the June 12 protests, and introducing direct general elections for the district’s head of administration and in the legislative assembly.
Protesters say they will not leave the streets until all five demands are met.
“First of all, it is everyone’s desire that Hong Kong get out of the crisis and return to normal life as soon as possible, the city has already suffered serious damage, and no one wants to see the continuation of the current situation. But to achieve this, we must not abandon or retreat from the fundamental principles on which Hong Kong is built, and I took a few minutes of my speech to lay out these important principles”, – she said.
According to her, the most important point remains “support for the principle of “One country, two systems”, secondly, it is necessary to support the rule of law and, thirdly, to support the institutional advantages of Hong Kong”.
“The demand for amnesty is completely contrary to the rule of law in Hong Kong and is in fact illegal with respect to the chief Executive, as I have no authority to intervene in the prosecution or in the trial. I am afraid that I can not give in to the case when the head of the administration is required to do something illegal, which is a departure from the important principle of the rule of law”, – said Carrie Lam.
At the same time, commenting on the refusal to comply with the requirement for General elections, she said that this process is governed by constitutional rules under the principle of “One country, two systems” and the Basic law, “we can not retreat or violate this important constitutional principle by adopting this specific requirement”.