That represents a break with the established mainstream “pan-democrat” parties, who have demanded voters be able to elect more lawmakers as well as the city’s top leader, or chief executive – now chosen by a panel of pro-Beijing elites – but never challenged the idea that Hong Kong is part of China.
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Law is a member of the Demosistō Party, which was set up by student leaders of the protest.
Legislature operates within a partially democratic system.
In recent years, however, the handover that created “one country, two systems” has been called into question, as mainland China has increasingly tried to impose its will on the city.
“I’m quite shocked”, Law, of the recently founded Demosisto party, said. However the pro-establishment camp is further away from the two-thirds majority needed to pass constitutional reform, while the opposition retains its veto power. The government office in Beijing that oversees Hong Kong affairs didn’t respond to requests for comment. According to the Economist, the remaining 30 seats belong to “functional constituencies”, which are chosen by groups representing business interests, professionals, and rural communities.
At stake is the power to keep Hong Kong’s widely unpopular Beijing-backed chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, and his government in check. Many young people feel less bound by the political conventions of Hong’s transition to Chinese rule in 1997, when even firebrand democrats described themselves as Chinese patriots.
At the forefront of the new guard in LegCo is Nathan Law, 23, leader of the 2014 “Umbrella Movement” rallies, who took more than 50,000 votes to become the council’s youngest member.
However, the fact that pro-independence activists have managed to bag a significant amount of seats – unlike the results of the 2012 LegCo elections – strongly indicates point C, i.e. Hong Kongers’ growing frustration over China’s authority. His election is a validation of the 2014 rallies, says Law, one of at least four young campaigners who are calling for more distance from Beijing to win a LegCo seat.
“But we will have to observe a bit longer and wait to see whether these newly elected groups start looking like they’re playing for the pro-establishment team”. Hong Kong has entered a new political era since the “occupy” movement.
Along with former student leaders Joshua Wong and Alex Chow, Law was found guilty of taking part in an unlawful assembly in connection with the start of the Occupy Central movement.
But last week, a Department of Justice spokesman said the government has asked the Eastern Court presiding magistrate to review the punishment, which it judged too lenient.
Since then, many disaffected youngsters have decried what they see as increasing Beijing interference stifling dissent and civil liberties, leading to a radicalisation of the political scene and occasional violent protests.
Citizens of this former British colony elected to legislature a bevy of candidates from new parties calling for more autonomy from the mainland, including several veterans of the massive pro-democracy street protests that rocked the city two years ago.
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Leaders of the 79-day civil disobedience movement rejected the August 31, 2014 decree by the National People’s Congress (NPC) as “fake universal suffrage”.
