“Hong Kong is really chaotic now”.
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Pro-democracy campaigners with megaphones urged voters to get to the polls yesterday to prevent the LegCo swinging further towards Beijing.
The practice provides China with a buffer from pro-democracy legislators, hence it has not been amended, Ma tells the web site blog.
Voters turned out in force Sunday for Hong Kong’s most crucial election since the handover from Britain in 1997, the outcome of which could pave the way for a fresh round of political confrontations over Beijing’s control of the city. Those fears were exacerbated when five Hong Kong booksellers known for salacious titles about leading Beijing politicians disappeared at the end of past year, resurfacing in detention on the mainland.
The pan-democrats would need to win 24 seats to be a bulwark against their pro-establishment rivals’ dominion of both halves of the 70-strong legislature – the directly elected geographical constituencies and the trade-based functional constituencies.
Now some young campaigners are demanding outright independence, others the chance for Hong Kong to determine its own future in a referendum. A growing yearning for independence and animosity toward Beijing in the southern coastal city pose one of the central government’s most pressing domestic political issues. A 30-year-old voter who gave her name as Sandy said she favoured independence. At the time, thousands of citizens of this former British colony-which has partial autonomy from the Communist Party-ruled mainland under a “one country, two systems” policy-blocked. However, many believe the deal has failed.
“It is too idealistic and unrealistic”, he told AFP.
Even if localists did win seats, with their numbers still small they would not tip the balance in a system where it is nearly impossible for the anti-Beijing camp ever to gain a majority.
It is nearly impossible for the democracy camp to take a majority in LegCo as 30 of its 70 seats are elected by special interest groups representing a range of businesses and social sectors.
“The city’s political spectrum has been stretched wider”, said Wong Yuk-man, the head of Civic Passion, a radical pro-democracy group, who was vying for a seat.
The bill, which triggered the 79-day Umbrella Revolution in 2014, would empower a majority pro-Beijing committee to pre-select the candidates running for the city’s top chief executive position, benefitting Hong Kong’s widely unpopular Beijing-backed leader, Leung Chun-ying, and his government.
Several political opponents protested outside the polling station, with one throwing a tuna sandwich towards Leung – saying it symbolised the fact that elderly people can not afford to eat breakfast in a city where the wealth gap is widening.
With soaring flat prices and low salaries causing serious concern, many frustrated residents say it is time to put politics aside and focus on struggling communities.
Edward Leung, who came third in the by-election with more than 66,000 votes, said the main priority for the localists is to win at least one seat in LegCo at this election.
A record 2.2 million people cast their vote, with a turnout rate or 58%, for the new Legislative Council.
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The vote for members of the Legislative Council – Hong Kong’s lawmaking body – is the most important election since major pro-democracy rallies brought parts of the semi-autonomous city to a standstill in 2014, calling for political reforms.
