Thirty pro-democracy candidates were elected to the 70-seat LegCo on Sunday, up from 27 previously, meaning they retain the ability to veto major constitutional changes.
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The city-wide vote was the biggest since mass pro-democracy protests in 2014 and saw candidates fighting for seats in the Legco, as concerns grow that China is tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city.
Law, 23, won in the Hong Kong Island district with more than 42,000 votes, becoming the youngest legislator in Hong Kong history.
Tthe Legislative Council is a 70-seat governing body that is in charge of passing (and rejecting) laws and approving the government budget.
Hong Kong’s unpopular leader Leung Chun-ying, seen by critics as a stooge of Beijing, said Tuesday, September 6, that all lawmakers must abide by the Basic Law.
In a separate column in the newspaper, a China-based academic said there could be legal challenges to lawmakers advocating independence, citing a law under which a candidate or group of voters can lodge a petition against an elected member they believe is ineligible or has acted “illegally”.
The outcome also underscores deepening political divides between the more radical newcomers, mainstream moderate democrats and pro-Beijing loyalists.
Nathan Law, center, of the political party Demosisto, who helped lead the 2014 protests, celebrates with teen protest leader Joshua Wong, second from left, and his supporters after winning a seat at the legislative council electi.
The results of the elections for seats in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council have been finalized in what must be a shocking and recalibrating outcome for both Hong Kong’s Beijing appointed government and Beijing itself.
The city was returned from Britain to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” deal that guaranteed its freedoms for 50 years, but there are fears those liberties are disappearing.
Eddie Chu Hoi-dick was a surprising victor, having won the most votes for any single candidate with 84,121 votes in the New Territories West constituency.
However, the pro-China contingent will continue to dominate the legislature, as they hold on to their seats in the functional constituency.
“The more the mainland pushes, the more Hong Kong society pushes back”, he said.
“The tough battle [has] just begun and we have to be prepared and fight against the communist party”, he said.
Localist groups from about 20 schools are threatening to protest if teachers do not stop “suppressing” their distribution of materials advocating Hong Kong’s independence from the mainland.
Neither early voting nor postal voting is allowed in the territory- a limiting rule which drove a number of voters to fly in from different parts of the world in hopes of taking part in the critical decision that will greatly affect Hong Kong’s future.
Pro-independence candidates have so far dominated the landmark election, the results of which isn’t expected until later today, after several hours of delay due to an unprecedented turnout.
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Leaders in Beijing and Hong Kong will have to reconsider their hard-line approach toward rising pro-democracy opposition after it backfired, “because now with the entry of a new generation of young democrats into the legislature, the politics inside the legislature will be very fierce”, said Sonny Lo, a political analyst at The Education University of Hong Kong. Under old agreements between London and Beijing, Hong Kong has to accept 150 legal Chinese immigrants every day.
