Who or what governs what you do and don’t do?
“Legislators Barred From Taking Office,” The Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2016 A13. Incoming legislators who decided to change the oath of office to add words of allegiance to a “Hong Kong nation” were barred from office for violating the Basic Law and for not being sincere or solemn.
Were these two legislators-to-be (or not to be) subject to the governance of the Basic Law (the constitution-like document governing Hong Kong post-1996) or the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress? Or just unclear on the duties involved in taking an oath?
And can you be punished/sanctioned for not being sufficiently sincere? And does anyone recall an oopsie and subsequent re-do by the Chief Justice in giving President Obama his oath of office?
And, finally, did the legislators-not-to-be understand the value of the addition of those words? Content matters.
infogovnuggets 