A fresh generation of anti-China activists have won seats on Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo), preliminary results indicate.
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Voters flocked to cast ballots in record numbers with some having to wait several hours after polls closed, leading to some delays in vote counting on Monday.
The Legislative Council – or the LegCo – election were the biggest polls held after the 2014’s mass protests calling for greater autonomy from China.
Predictions that the move would spark a backlash appear to have played out, with several candidates endorsed by pro-independence activist Edward Leung posting better-than-expected showings.
Amid anger of Beijing’s tightening grip, the protesters called on Leung Chun-ying to step down, demanding the right to elect a leader directly. A record 2.2 million voters cast their ballots for the former, at a turnout rate of 58%, according to local election authorities.
To the surprise of many, the youngest candidate Nathan Law, 23, received 13.5 per cent, or 50,818, of votes, second to pro-Beijing incumbent Regina Ip, who got 60,760 of the total 376,675 votes for the six-seat Hong Kong Island constituency which had 15 candidates.
They were part of a broader wave of radical activists who campaigned for Hong Kong’s complete autonomy or even independence from China, highlighting fears that Beijing is violating its promise to let the city mostly run itself, as well as frustration over the failure of the 2014 protests to win genuine elections for Hong Kong’s top leader.
“I hope to renew the democratic movement of Hong Kong”, Chu said.
This will ensure that pro-democracy parties, who now occupy 19 seats overall in the 70-seat council, will retain a crucial veto, as any changes to Hong Kong’s political system must win the support of two-thirds of council members to pass. “That is my political goal in Hong Kong”.
“We need to have steady political influence on the society”, Law said. Try to unite different camps because as you can see I still believe that we have to be united in order to have a stronger power to fight against the Communist Party.
Two candidates from the Youngspiration party, a more vocally pro-independence movement which also has its roots in the Umbrella Protests, were also on course to be elected.
It is not yet clear what may happen if they go on to advocate independence as an option for Hong Kong in the legislature. HKFP reports that they grabbed 19 out of the 35 seats that were up grabs – with localist candidates picking up 3 of those seats. “It doesn’t make any sense”, she said. The anti-establishment camp, including pan-democrats and localists, won 30 of the legislature’s 70 seats, while the pro-establishment camp took 40 seats, down from the 43 they won in the 2012 election, according to the final election results released Monday.
Mr Law said he would push for a referendum to “decide Hong Kong’s sovereignty status” in 10 or 20 years.
The election for the sixth-term LegCo of the Hong Kong SAR was held on Sunday, September 4, 2016.
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Some 52.6 percent of the almost 3.8 million registered voters turned out an hour before polls closed, surpassing the total turnout for the previous election four years ago.
