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As China changes, about 4,800 people will choose the election committee, up from 233,000 five years ago.
After Beijing’s electoral reforms to ensure that only “patriots” hold political office, a select group of thousands of people began voting on Sunday to elect a powerful committee that will elect Hong Kong’s next leader And nearly half of the legislature.
Those who were allowed to vote on the 1,500-seat Election Committee on Sunday were mainly representatives of business, professional, and religious circles, while pro-democracy candidates were almost absent in the first election since Beijing. Overhaul Hong Kong’s political system earlier this year.
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Sunday morning: “The whole goal of improving the electoral system is to ensure that patriots manage Hong Kong.”
“I very much doubt whether another government or country will allow their local legislature to publicly elect people whose mission is to undermine national interests or national security.”
This territory and the former British colony have never been a fully democratic country-this is the source of many years of protests-but after Hong Kong was handed over to Beijing in 1997, a small number of voices were tolerated and China pledged to respect Hong Kong Freedom and lifestyle. The life span is at least 50 years.
After massive protests broke out in 2019, Beijing responded by implementing a broadly worded national security law Lead Dozens of people were arrested, some of the city’s most famous civil society groups closed, and Apple Daily, Its most popular newspaper. Pro-democratic politicians in public office have also resigned, and some have gone into exile.
The famous democracy leader Nathan Law, who fled to the UK last year, told AFP: “Hong Kong people cannot participate in elections at all.”
“All candidates will become puppet shows under Beijing’s complete control…without any meaningful competition.”
A protester (right) was searched by the police, and a small group of Hong Kongers began to choose a powerful committee to elect the city’s leaders and nearly half of the legislature under the new “Patriot” system imposed by Beijing [Peter Parks/AFP]Former MP Xu Dehua, who moved to Australia, said that Hong Kong’s political system is now “a rubber stamp game under Beijing’s complete control.”
“This is not just a managed democracy. This is an authoritarian regime that tries to pretend to be civilized,” Xu said.
According to the South China Morning Post, as early as 2016, about 246,440 Hong Kong people were allowed to choose the election committee.
This number has now been reduced to approximately 4,900 people, which is only a small part of Hong Kong’s population of 7.5 million.
The police stated that 6,000 police officers are on standby to ensure that there will be no protests or interference.
“Hong Kong no longer has democracy,” Keith Richberg, director of the Center for Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Hong Kong, told Al Jazeera. “All of this was meticulously planned by Beijing. This is for veneers, novels, and some popular participation, but all of this is fixed in advance.”
In December, the Election Committee will appoint 40 of the city’s 90 legislators-another 30 will be elected by special interest groups, and only 20 will be directly elected, compared to half of the previous House of Representatives. In 2022, it will elect the next leader of Hong Kong from candidates approved by Beijing.
The vast majority of seats voted on Sunday were not contested, with 412 candidates competing for the remaining 364 seats. The rest will be installed on an ex-officio or selected by special interest groups.
At the height of the protests two years ago, the district council election was the only institution in the region mainly elected by universal suffrage. Overwhelming victory Democratic candidate.
this National Security Law Implemented in June last year to punish anything Beijing considers to be subversion, secession, “terrorism” or collusion with foreign forces.
In May, the Chinese Rubber Stamp Assembly changed Hong Kong’s electoral system, reduced democratic representation in the organization, and introduced a censorship mechanism for election candidates and winners.
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