Voters in Hong Kong went to the polls in small numbers this Sunday (7) to choose their representatives to the Legislative Council, a body that functions like a local parliament and can formulate and amend laws. The elections are tightly controlled by Beijing. Government efforts to encourage participation have been overshadowed by the recent fire which killed 159 people.
The authorities extended the opening hours of polling stations (from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.), and trains ran later in the territory, which had been filled with campaign posters for weeks.
This election is once again taking place without the two main pro-democracy parties: the Civic Party, dissolved in 2023, and the Democratic Party, in decline.
Hong Kong’s electoral system was reformed by Chinese authorities in 2021 to ensure that only “patriots” can hold public office. The number of directly elected seats in the Legislative Council has been reduced – currently 20 out of 90.
The move comes after widespread, sometimes violent, pro-democracy protests rocked the former British colony. Hong Kong was returned to China and now constitutes a territory with special status.
The election campaign was disrupted in late November, shortly after a fire ravaged apartment towers in Wang Fuk Court in northern Hong Kong.
Poon, a woman whose apartment was destroyed by the flames, told AFP that the tragedy must be thoroughly investigated, those responsible must be punished and the next MPs must monitor the government’s actions.
“Some opposition voices, if they really love their country and Hong Kong, should be given the opportunity to speak out,” said Kitty Lau, another resident in her 60s, who witnessed the fire from her home.
“Your vote is a vote that leads to reform and protects those affected by the disaster,” Chief Executive John Lee told reporters after the vote, encouraging people to do the same.
Jacky Lam, a 56-year-old teacher, said the government’s top priority should be finding suitable relocation solutions and that policymakers “should meet regularly with residents to hear their views.”
John Lee said the government would discuss relief and reconstruction measures during the first session of the new Legislative Council. He had already announced the creation of an “independent commission”, chaired by a judge, to investigate the fire which ravaged seven buildings under renovation.
Voters arrested
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency said it arrested four people on Sunday for inciting others not to vote or to vote invalidly, bringing the total number of arrests to 11.
The police, in turn, arrested at least 15 employees of several construction companies as part of the investigation into the November 26 fires and, apparently, at least three people on suspicion of “sedition.”
The arrest of a 71-year-old man for “obstructing a national security investigation” was also reported on Saturday, a first in Hong Kong.
On Saturday (6), the Chinese National Security Office (NSO) summoned representatives of the international press, including the AFP, accusing them of spreading false information by covering the fire.
Before 2021, legislative elections were marked by violent clashes between supporters of Beijing and supporters of democracy, with the latter often winning around 60% of the vote.
But in 2020, the Chinese government imposed a national security law that particularly cracks down on dissent, after Hong Kong was rocked the previous year by large-scale protests.
Since then, some pro-democracy lawmakers have been arrested, others have resigned and still others have fled Hong Kong.
With AFP
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