Opposition shut out of Hong Kong’s ‘patriots-only’ District Council race’; leader John Lee hails ‘fierce competition’

Hong Kong Free Press

Hong Kong’s newly-restricted District Council election will see “fierce” competition, Chief Executive John Lee has said, even as opposition parties announced they were unable to run in the December race after not securing the required nominations.

Chief Executive John Lee meets the press on October 31, 2023. Photo: Hans Tse/HKFP.

Lee’s remarks, made at a press briefing on Tuesday, came a day after the government announced that a total of 400 people submitted nomination forms ahead of the District Council elections in December. The upcoming race will be the first since authorities overhauled the election system drastically reducing the number of democratically elected seats and introducing mandatory nominations from government-appointed committees.

The chief executive pointed to the fact that 228 candidates had applied to vie for 176 seats that will be voted on by the District Committees that gained new powers under the overhaul. There was “no possibility” that a candidate would be elected uncontested, Lee said.

“Competition will be fierce,” he said, speaking in Cantonese.

Plans to overhaul the District Council elections were unveiled in May 2023 to ensure only “patriots” were elected, following a pro-democracy landslide at the last polls in 2019. The number of seats chosen democratically by the public was slashed to around 20 per cent, with the rest chosen by the city’s leader, government-appointed committees and officials.

Constituency boundaries were redrawn and each local council will be chaired by a government official, similar to colonial-era arrangements. All candidates will undergo national security vetting to ensure patriotism.

The city’s leader also hailed the background of the candidates as diverse, saying the pool included people who have “established deep roots” in the community and young people who were determined to serve the community.

Ethnic minorities and professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, surveyors, engineers and registered nurses, were also among those who threw their hat in the ring, Lee said.

The composition of election hopefuls was proof of “universality and diversity” of the overhauled system, Lee said. The diverse background of candidates will bring in more “multidimensional” considerations to district work and will better align with the immediate interests of the citizens, he said.

“Under the nomination mechanism, whoever wants to enter the election would have to work hard to earn the nominations. This shows that the new system has the function of choosing the best candidate from the pool,” he said.

An analysis by HKFP revealed that more than 75 per cent of the candidates running in the directly-elected geographical constituencies in Hong Kong’s newly-restricted District Council race are also members of the committees responsible for nominating who runs.

Democratic Party shut out

Opposition parties have been effectively barred from joining December’s race, after their members did not manage to collect sufficient nominations from members of three government-appointed committees. As part of the overhaul, candidates must receive a total of at least nine nominations from the committees, which are stacked with pro-establishment figures.

A large banner is displayed to promote the 2023 District Council election on October 16, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The Democratic Party, one of the last remaining pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong, announced they would not join the District Council race on Monday afternoon, minutes after the two-week nomination period ended.

The party chair Lo Kin-hei told the press that six members had mailed their personal details and election platforms to members of the three nominating committees based on information provided by the Election Committee.

It was regretful that members were not able to secure enough nominations, Lo said. He said the party would not publicise the number of nominations its members had obtained or the nominators’ name.

“The Democratic Party’s participation in this District Council election was originally aimed at bringing different voices of Hong Kong people into the system… it was also an attempt to continue making effort in a society filled with a sense of powerlessness,” a Chinese statement from the party read.

Centrist party Third Side said on Friday that it would sit out the race after two candidates it was planning to field did not receive enough nominations.

The Democratic Party. Photo: Peter Lee/HKFP.

Responding to questions about candidates who could not enter the race due to insufficient nominations, Lee said at the Tuesday press conference that the election rules applied to all candidates. Those who failed to secure nominations should continue to “improve” themselves, he said, so that they could win the support of nominators and voters in the next election.

“We have to ensure all the procedures and the rules governing the election apply equally to everybody. All these rules, principles and procedures are made very open and fair,” the chief executive said when responding to an English question.

The District Council Eligibility Review Committee, chaired by the city’s number two official Eric Chan, is set to scrutinise the nominations received and announce a list of candidates who passed the patriotism test within two weeks.

The committee’s membership is made up of top officials security chief Chris Tang, constitutional and mainland affairs minister Erick Tsang and Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Alice Mak. Lee also appointed pro-Beijing heavyweight Maria Tam, vice-chairperson of the Basic Law Committee Wong Yuk-shan and Senior Counsel Johnny Mok – described as “staunch patriots” by the government – as non-official members of the committee.

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