BBC Online :
Pro-democracy protest groups in Hong Kong are urging people not to disrupt Sunday’s local elections in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
They hope the polls will send a message to the government in Beijing after five months of political unrest.
The authorities have threatened to suspend voting if there is serious disruption at polling stations.
More than 400 councillors are due to be elected to Hong Kong’s district council.
Pro-democracy campaigners hope they will be able to increase their representation on the council, which traditionally has some influence in choosing the city’s chief executive. Pro-Beijing candidates are urging voters to support them in order to express frustration at the upheaval caused by continuous clashes between protesters and police.
What’s happening?
Sunday’s district elections will take place with a record 4.1 million people in the city registered to vote.
More than 1,000 candidates are running for 452 district council seats which, for the first time, are being contested. (A further 27 seats are allocated to representatives of rural districts.)
Currently, pro-Beijing parties hold the majority of these seats. District councils themselves have very little actual power, so usually these elections take place on a very local level.
They’re the first elections since anti-government protests started in June, so will act as a litmus test, reflecting how much support there is for the current government.
“People in Hong Kong have begun to see this election as an additional way to articulate and express their views on the state of Hong Kong in general and the government of Carrie Lam,” Kenneth Chan, associate professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, told news agency Reuters.
Then there’s the issue of Hong Kong’s chief executive.
Under Hong Kong’s electoral system, 117 of the district councillors will also sit on the committee that votes for the chief executive. So a pro-democracy district win could translate eventually to a bigger share, and say, in who becomes the city’s next leader.
Pro-democracy protest groups in Hong Kong are urging people not to disrupt Sunday’s local elections in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
They hope the polls will send a message to the government in Beijing after five months of political unrest.
The authorities have threatened to suspend voting if there is serious disruption at polling stations.
More than 400 councillors are due to be elected to Hong Kong’s district council.
Pro-democracy campaigners hope they will be able to increase their representation on the council, which traditionally has some influence in choosing the city’s chief executive. Pro-Beijing candidates are urging voters to support them in order to express frustration at the upheaval caused by continuous clashes between protesters and police.
What’s happening?
Sunday’s district elections will take place with a record 4.1 million people in the city registered to vote.
More than 1,000 candidates are running for 452 district council seats which, for the first time, are being contested. (A further 27 seats are allocated to representatives of rural districts.)
Currently, pro-Beijing parties hold the majority of these seats. District councils themselves have very little actual power, so usually these elections take place on a very local level.
They’re the first elections since anti-government protests started in June, so will act as a litmus test, reflecting how much support there is for the current government.
“People in Hong Kong have begun to see this election as an additional way to articulate and express their views on the state of Hong Kong in general and the government of Carrie Lam,” Kenneth Chan, associate professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, told news agency Reuters.
Then there’s the issue of Hong Kong’s chief executive.
Under Hong Kong’s electoral system, 117 of the district councillors will also sit on the committee that votes for the chief executive. So a pro-democracy district win could translate eventually to a bigger share, and say, in who becomes the city’s next leader.
