Hong Kong holds first ‘patriots only’ local elections

HONG KONG: Half a dozen people were arrested in Hong Kong on Sunday as the city´s first “patriots only” election stretched into midnight and officials denied being concerned by the possibility of low turnout in a race lacking opposition candidates.

Just before the polls were set to close on Sunday night, Chair of the Electoral Affairs Commission David Lo announced a rare 90-minute extension of voting to midnight, citing a failure in the digital system used to confirm voters´ eligibility and issue ballots. He denied that turnout was a factor in the decision. “Our commission is a non-political body and turnout rate is not our concern,” Lok said.

Hong Kong last held district council elections at the peak of huge, sometimes violent, democracy protests in 2019, and recorded a historic-high 71 percent turnout -- delivering a landslide victory for the democracy camp.

Afterwards, as city authorities clamped down on the political opposition -- aided by a national security law imposed in 2020 by Beijing -- more obstacles were added to the local legislature contests.

According to new rules announced in May, the number of seats that could be directly elected was slashed from 462 to 88, with the other 382 seats controlled by the city leader, government loyalists and rural landlords.

Candidates are now also required to seek nomination from three government-appointed committees, which effectively shut out all pro-democracy parties.

Over 70 percent of the candidates nominated to run for the election are themselves members of the nominating committees. Around the city, posters urge Hong Kongers to participate in the vote, but on Sunday morning, polling booths in the wealthy Mid-Levels area saw only a smattering of ballot casters.

City leader John Lee said this year´s election was “the last piece of the puzzle to implement the principle of patriots ruling Hong Kong”, referring to a doctrine Beijing imposed on the financial hub to weed out from public office anyone deemed politically disloyal after the 2019 protests. “From now on, the district councils would no longer be what they were in the past -- which was a platform to destruct and reject the government´s administration, to promote Hong Kong independence and to endanger national security,” Lee said after he cast his ballot on Sunday.