Law was sentenced 120 hours of community service last month after a Hong Kong court convicted him and fellow student leader Joshua Wong, 19, of illegally taking part in an assembly outside the government headquarters, which triggered the Occupy movement in 2014.
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“(I) hope we can all work for society together”, Leung told reporters.
The polls have been defined by questions over Hong Kong independence, with several candidates barred from standing for their pro-independence views.
More than two million people, or 58 percent of registered voters, cast their ballots in Sunday’s elections, the highest turnout in any legislative elections since Britain returned control of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
“The protests against Beijing have really raised the temperature here”. “This is the way for voters to show after Umbrella Movement they’re turning away from pro-Beijing loyalists”, said legislator Leung Kwok-hung of the pan-Democratic camp.
With 90% of the vote counted by 10.30am local time on Monday, young activists calling for greater distance from Beijing’s influence were poised to take their place in the former British colony’s Legislative Council (LegCo). Now some young campaigners are demanding outright independence, others the chance for Hong Kong to determine its own future in a referendum.
“People want change, change meaning that they want new faces. but the price is a further fragmentation [of the pro-democracy camp]”, defeated candidate Lee Cheuk-yan told Reuters.
HONG KONG (AP) A new wave of young Hong Kong activists seeking to change the way the southern Chinese city is governed by Beijing emerged Monday as the big winners of legislative elections. But while victory for anti-China activists would be a massive coup, many still feel they are chasing an impossible cause.
At least three of the young leaders who took the front row in the 2014 pro-democracy protests have been elected to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council or LegCo – the majority of which holds the power to veto certain legislations in the territory.
Following the record-breaking election, the Chinese government issued its “firm opposition” to any pro-independence activities, either on the council or outside of it, and warned that they will impose punishment in accordance with the law on legislatures who back independence.
It is nearly impossible for them to take a majority as 30 seats are appointed by special interest groups that tend to be pro-Beijing.
Only 40 out of 70 total seats are directly elected by the public, while special interest groups representing a range of mostly pro-China businesses and social sectors select the rest 30 lawmakers. An additional five “super seats” are picked by voters across the territory.
However, the pro-China contingent will continue to dominate the legislature, as they hold on to their seats in the functional constituency.
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The number of seats won by localist candidates, in results released yesterday, is a stern rebuke of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s policies and Chief Executive Leung Chun Ying’s administration in trying to squeeze Hong Kong’s democracy and restrict freedom, said political analyst Willy Lam.
