HONG KONG - The door on localist activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung's aspirations to run for district councilor in Hong Kong was shut on Tuesday when an electoral officer ruled that his nomination for the 2019 District Council Ordinary Election was invalid.

The HKSAR government said in a statement that it supported the decisions made on the validity of nomination by returning officers

The decision was made by the Electoral Affairs Commission's returning officer of the South Horizon West Constituency, Laura Aron.

The nomination for Wong, the secretary-general of political group Demosisto that advocates "Hong Kong's independence", was decided as invalid in accordance with the Electoral Affairs Commission (Electoral Procedure) (District Councils) Regulation, the returning officer said in a notice.

It brings the total number of qualified candidates standing at 1,090. They will be contesting the election for 452 council seats in 18 districts across Hong Kong.

The election is scheduled to be held on Nov 24.

In a statement issued shortly afterwards, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said it supported the decisions made on the validity of nomination by returning officers.

"In accordance with section 34(1)(b) of the District Councils Ordinance, a person is not validly nominated as a candidate for the DC election unless he or she, as part of the statutory nomination procedure, makes a declaration in the nomination form to the effect that he or she will uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the HKSAR.

Upholding the Basic Law is a basic legal duty of a DC member. If a person advocates or promotes self-determination or independence by any means, he or she cannot possibly uphold the Basic Law or fulfil his or her duties as a DC member."

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Without naming Wong, the government said in the statement, "Regarding a Returning Officer's decision that the nomination of a candidate was invalid as he did not comply with section 34(1)(b) of the District

Councils Ordinance the HKSAR Government agrees to and supports the decision..."

Stressing that the law required a candidate to make a declaration to uphold the Basic Law, the government pointed it out in the press release that advocating or promoting "self-determination" is "contrary to the content of the declaration" and as such, a candidate harbouring such sentiments could not possibly comply with the requirements of the relevant electoral laws.