Fears that Hong Kong’s freedoms are disappearing were fanned after five city booksellers known for salacious titles about Beijing politicians disappeared, resurfacing in detention on the mainland.
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At some polling stations, there were long queues until until 2:30am local time (18:30 Sunday GMT) – four hours later than the scheduled cut-off time – with a turnout of nearly 60 percent of 3.7 million voters.
Ng, chairman of the League of Social Democrats, a radical pro-democracy party, earlier told reporters outside the polling station where Leung voted that he believed that the 2014 democracy street protests had awakened civil liberties “so hopefully today we can have a high voter turnout and use our votes to yell our discontent toward CY Leung”.
Among them is Nathan Law, 23, leader of the 2014 “Umbrella Movement” rallies, who is guaranteed a seat after coming second in his constituency behind a pro-Beijing candidate. The outcome could pave the way for a fresh round of political confrontations over Beijing’s control of the city.
Hong Kong residents voted on Sunday in record numbers for a bitterly contested legislative election, with a push for independence among a disaffected younger generation of candidates and voters stoking tension with China’s government. Law co-founded Demosisto with activist Joshua Wong, who was unable to run as he is not yet 21.
This LegCo election was considered to be the most important one in Hong Kong’s history since the city was handed back over to China.
Full results expected later on Monday with delay due to a record turnout, with some having to wait several hours past midnight after the closure of polling to cast ballots at congested voting booths.
“We don’t want our next generation to be slaves of the Chinese Communist Party”, said Edward Leung, one of those disqualified who campaigned for a replacement candidate in an open top bus and addressed cheering crowds on the streets of Hong Kong with a loudhailer. Some were anxious that the pan-democratic camp – which held 27 seats to the pro-Beijing camp’s 43 – would lose seats in the election, granting the pro-Beijing camp the two-thirds majority necessary to pass its agenda through the legislature.
Young people in the semi-autonomous territory have become increasingly outspoken since the failure of the Occupy movement to win democratic concessions from Beijing, with a growing number calling for self-determination or even independence. The more strident independence activists – slammed by Beijing and Hong Kong authorities as acting illegally – were banned by the government from running in Sunday’s election, a move that sparked anger. “This is the reason for my success”, Leung told TIME on Monday afternoon.
That compares with 53% in the last LegCo elections in 2012.
Chinese actions in Hong Kong since its 1997 return from Britain under a “one country, two systems” agreement have raised concerns about what citizens there see as Beijing’s frequent meddling in the city’s affairs.
That is about 6% of the population, who are overwhelmingly Beijing-leaning.
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“I am here to vote for Hong Kong’s future”.
