Hong Kong attempts to flex democracy muscle

Sonya Bryskine
Epoch Times Staff

Special Administrative Region (SAR) - Hong Kong has attempted to enforce a 「de facto referendum」 on democracy, but such efforts may still meet challenges from pro-Beijing supporters.

On May 16 a vote took place for five seats in Hong King』s Legislative Council (Legco), triggered by the resignation of five pro-Democracy lawmakers in January. The politicians aimed to force the country to take a stance on electoral reform. They want to rid the functional seats in the Legco, whereby 30 seats will serve as SAR officials who will rubber stamping its policies.

One seat in each of five geographical constituencies is being contested. The lawmakers seeking re-election are pro-democracy Civic Party lawmakers Tanya Chan and Alan Leong, as well as League of Social Democrats Leung Kwok-hung, Wong Yuk-man, and Albert Chan. With the results in, all five politicians have been reinstated after being re-elected into the Legco, with the pan democratic presence being maintained within the Legco.

The lawmakers banked on reaching at least 25 percent threshold on voter turn-out for the 「Referendum」 to be a success. They have encouraged the 3.4 million registered voters to cast their ballots, but early results suggested that the turn-out was low.

With only 17.1 percent of the former British Colony』s 3.4 million registered voters having cast their ballots which is around 579,00 compared to 45-55 percent turnout rates in previous legislative elections.

The by-election has received support from Anson Chan, Hong Kong』s former No.2 official and a highly influential politician.

Chan, dubbed by supporters as 「Hong Kong』s conscience,」 campaigned with ex-legislator Tanya Chan on Hong Kong Island.

「If we don』t want Hong Kong to become a city where free expression is muzzled, if we don』t want to suffer from intimidation, we must exercise our votes tomorrow and send the government a clear message,」 Anson Chan said, reported AFP.

Anson Chan blasted the Chief Executive Donald Tsang for skipping the election.

「I』ve never heard of a political leader leading the boycott of a legally organised election,」 she said.

Donald Tsang said that he and his political team will not be voting in the elections. He described it as an abuse of the electoral system and a waste of taxpayers』 money. The pro-government D-A-B and Liberal Party are also boycotting the polls.

However, some voters have denounced the interference from Beijing and cast their votes.

IT Manager Mr Lo submitted his vote at 7:00 a.m. before commencing his shift. He believed it was necessary to vote because he would be exercising his civil right to do so. 「This is to express my stand of not supporting Donald Tsang, and I would say voice out when you can!」

Meanwhile, AFP reports that critics of the referendum have said that the outcome was unlikely to resolve the deadlock between the government and the democrats over the progress of political reform.

「The democrats will claim it a victory if the five resigned lawmakers get re-elected. But even if that is the case, the Hong Kong government will dismiss the elections as a money-wasting exercise if the turnout is poor,」 said Ma Ngok, a political scientist at Chinese University of Hong Kong, reported AFP.

Political analysts have said that the by-elections have caused a split within the pro-democracy camp, with the moderate factions more likely to side with Beijing in terms of compromising reformed changes.

Hong Kong remains a tightly controlled region, despite promises from Beijing for greater freedom. The earliest the region will elect their chief executive is in 2017 and its own legislature by 2020.

Only half of Hong Kong』s 60-seat legislature is directly elected from geographical constituencies. The remaining 30 「functional constituency」 seats are largely chosen by the pro-China business elite.

An 800-member election committee hand-picked by Beijing decides who becomes the chief executive, a post that has replaced that of governor since the 1997 handover.