HONG KONG — The people of Hong Kong took a breather from months of bitter street clashes to exercise their democratic rights Sunday in local elections seen as a referendum on the territory’s pro-Beijing leaders and the pro-democracy movement.
By the time polls opened at 7:30 a.m. local time, snaking lines had formed around schools and government buildings serving as polling stations — a new experience for many in Hong Kong, where local elections usually happen with little fanfare. Many candidates are running on an explicit platform of supporting the months-long democracy movement here, leaving their jobs to compete with pro-establishment political heavyweights.
“I want to make a change,” said Oscar, a 30-year-old voter in the North Point district, a pro-Beijing stronghold. “All we want is democracy.”
Oscar, who spoke on the condition that only his first name be used, citing electoral rules and a charged political environment, said he plans to support young candidates running in his district even though they lacked experience. In North Point, five new politicians are running, including a fresh university graduate who was moved to participate after violence against pro-democracy protesters in her neighborhood.
District council elections are largely fought on local issues, with pro-Beijing parties usually dominating, partly thanks to their links to the business community and the political establishment.
This time, though, the pro-Beijing parties fear Sunday’s elections could show a significant decline in their support, reflecting widespread concerns over China’s erosion of freedoms in the semiautonomous territory. For these candidates, their hope is that Hong Kong has a “silent majority” of residents who are increasingly uncomfortable with disruption and sporadic violence caused by street protests and who will vote to endorse the establishment.
A 62-year-old voter who gave his last name as Tsang also turned up to the North Point district early, hoping his vote can help “restore a peaceful society.”
Pro-democracy parties see the vote as a chance for people to express support for their cause and to send a strong message to the Hong Kong government and their political masters in Beijing. It is the only fully democratic election in Hong Kong, as the city’s leader is not directly elected and only half of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, the lawmaking body, is directly elected.
Katherine Ng, 25, a first-time voter, said pro-democracy supporters like her are trying to bring their fight to the political arena. Ng voted in Causeway Bay, a middle-class neighborhood known for high-end shopping malls that is dominated by establishment political figures. “We need to vote these pro-establishment councilors out,” she said.
There has been a surge of interest in the elections among the broader public and a real effort by pro-democracy groups to get people to register, with sign-up booths along the routes of marches during the early, peaceful days of the protests. More than 390,000 new electors signed up this year, bringing the total registered voters to a record 4.1 million.
In the first three hours of voting Sunday, turnout was at 18 percent, triple what it was in 2015, according to election authorities.
Hundreds of new pro-democracy candidates have also been inspired to participate in politics amid the unrest that has engulfed city streets. In all, 1,090 candidates are contesting 452 seats, the first time that all the seats in the election have been contested.
The weeks leading up to the vote saw the biggest escalation in violence since the protests began more than five months ago, with hundreds of demonstrators arrested after police seized a university campus that had become a fortified base for the movement.
Across the city, Sunday’s elections were marked with heightened levels of security, with masked riot police officers at polling stations.
But the day before the vote was one of the quietest Hong Kong has experienced in months, with protesters keen to avoid giving the authorities any excuse to cancel the elections.
On online forums and message groups, protesters advised one another not to wear black — the unofficial uniform of the pro-democracy movement — on election day to avoid being detained and denied the right to vote.
The local election has also been marred by political violence against councilors from both sides — though pro-democracy candidates have overwhelmingly been the targets — and the arrest of several pro-democracy lawmakers. Prominent activist Joshua Wong was barred from running for office, which he alleged was evidence of election interference from Beijing.
In 2015, pro-Beijing parties won just over 54 percent of the vote and 298 seats, taking control of all 18 district councils. They tend to be better resourced and better organized than pro-democracy groups, with solid links between the communities and the establishment that have historically allowed them to get things done for constituents.
Pro-democracy groups won 40 percent of the vote in 2015 and 126 seats, with independents taking the remainder. They will be hoping for a repeat of the 2003 district council elections, when they saw a surge in support after mass demonstrations over the government’s plans to introduce a controversial national security law.
Chinese state media argue that a “silent majority” in Hong Kong oppose the protests because of the violence that has been unleashed on the city. But opinion polls show people overwhelmingly blame the government for the violence, even if the protesters shoulder some responsibility.
District councilors’ responsibilities are largely local, but they are given 117 seats on the 1,200-member election committee — dominated by pro-Beijing groups and business interests — that selects Hong Kong’s chief executive.
Polling stations will remain open until 10:30 p.m., with results expected to start coming in late Sunday and into Monday.
Anna Kam contributed to this report.
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2019-11-24 03:45:00Z
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