Radical democrats have gained a foothold in elections in Hong Kong in a development that is likely to rile China.
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Occupy student leader Nathan Law Kwun-chung and social activist and university lecturer Lau Siu-lai won in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon West.
“I made sure to book my leave to coincide with the elections”, he told CNN. The full outcome will not be known until later in the day.
Under the principle of “one country, two systems” and the Basic Law constitution, Beijing is supposed to let Hong Kong keep its capitalist economic and political system separate from mainland China’s until 2047.
Just over half of Hong Kong’sLegislative Council is selected by popular vote, while the rest is chosen by constituencies that represent largely pro-Beijing and business interests.
The election was held on Sunday, when more than 2.2 million eligible voters casted their ballots at hundreds of polling stations with a turnout rate of 58 percent.
Law will now take up a seat in the Legislative Council (LegCo), Hong Kong’s lawmaking body.
That represents a break with the established mainstream “pan-democrat” parties, who have demanded voters be able to elect more lawmakers as well as the city’s top leader, or chief executive – now chosen by a panel of pro-Beijing elites – but never challenged the idea that Hong Kong is part of China.
He compared the growing rejection of Chinese control in Hong Kong to the situation in self-governing Taiwan, where opposition to Chinese influence helped sweep the pro-independence Democratic Progressive party to power in January.
“That is adding a whole new dimension to this election”, Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Hong Kong, said.
The blocked candidates have launched a judicial review against the decision, which could prompt by-elections if it is successful. A spate of incidents, including the disappearance of five Hong Kong booksellers who later resurfaced in mainland Chinese detention, has aroused fears that Beijing is reneging on its promise of wide autonomy for Hong Kong under a “one country, two systems” framework.
Over the past four years, Hong Kong’s political landscape has been radically re-shaped.
Voters flocked to polling stations across Hong Kong on Sunday, with some waiting in line to cast votes more than 3 hours after the official close of voting at 10:30pm. Another five “super seats” were contested by candidates who were district councilors elected a year ago.
Hong Kong’s opposition camp might breathe a sigh of relief, now that it is expected to retain veto power over major legislation.
He planned to vote for the 23-year-old Nathan Law who, along with teen activist Joshua Wong, played a key role leading the 2014 protests.
“They took one seat from us, we’ll win three seats back”, he told CNN ahead of Sunday’s vote, a prediction that largely seems to have panned out, with Leung-endorsed Youngspiration candidates Sixtus Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching both winning seats.
“I think that todays, the result of the election is the indicator to show whether Hong Kong people accept independence as our future or not”.
Radical activist Avery Ng was restrained by police after he threw a sandwich at Hong Kong’s widely unpopular Beijing-backed leader, Leung Chun-ying.
That fuelled the fire of the “localist” movement, which is seeking distance from China after the failure of the 2014 rallies to win concessions on political reform.
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His constituency will elect six seats and he was now in second place, with 90 per cent of votes counted, the results showed.
