Prologue Journal

Hong Kong’s ‘Patriots only’ local election: Some keen to cast ballots, others say voting futile in ‘unfair’ race

• prologu5
• 12/10/202312/10/2023

Hong Kong Free Press

Part of HKFP’s partnership with The Guardian.

For the first time since he registered as a voter in 2008, Chan, a 60-year-old Hongkonger living in the middle-class community of Tai Koo, said he was not going to vote on Sunday, which marks the first “patriots-only” election since the electoral revamp.

“I had lost interest in local politics since the system overhaul. I used to always vote in every election. This year is the first time that I will not vote, ” Chan told HKFP in Cantonese.

“Under the new system, the representativeness of the District Council election is very low. Only 20 per cent of seats are directly elected [by the public] – what’s the point of voting?”

A pro-democracy supporter who only offered his surname due to fear of reprisals, Chan remembered the last time he cast a ballot was at the end of 2019, when he selected a pro-democracy councillor.

Four years on, he encountered street booths for three candidates near Tai Koo station: “I have automatically isolated myself from political propaganda. All candidates had been screened before running. It’s just a show,” Chan said.

Plans to overhaul the District Council elections were unveiled in May to ensure only “patriots” were elected, following a pro-democracy landslide at the last polls in 2019. All opposition parties have been barred from running, whilst the number of seats chosen democratically by the public was slashed to around 20 per cent. The rest will be chosen by the city’s leader and government-appointed committees.

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

HKFP spoke to potential voters across Kowloon and Hong Kong Island…

City awash with posters

As a registered voter, Mr. Wong – a 26-year-old surveyor who declined to give his full name – told HKFP that he had not paid much attention to the upcoming District Council race, though he saw the authorities had devoted ample resources to promoting it: “It seems that the government is afraid that no one is going to vote,” Wong said, as he sat on a bench in Wan Chai on Thursday evening. “There are advertisements for the election on the street, on buses and on television.”

However, the young Hongkonger said he probably will not cast a ballot on Sunday. “I just moved home to Hong Kong Island and haven’t figured out whether my registration was successfully changed to the new constituency… After all, I am not very keen on voting. I don’t know the candidates and there is just no one that caught my attention.”

The city is awash with promotions, despite top officials playing down concerns over turnout. Posters and large billboards are dominating the streets and entrances to cross-harbour tunnels. Promotional videos and an election song have been playing across online platforms and TV, whilst vans roam communities with loudhailers promoting the new “patriots only” system.

In contrast to all the promotion, many candidates remain unknown to the public as few have accepted media interviews. Plus, there have been no election forums for candidates’ to debate their competitors. The Hong Kong Economic Journal reported that many candidates did not have any personal information or policies detailed on their street banners – many seem to be just promoting the election, or urging passers-by to vote.

Chan Yuen-han, a pro-establishment politician and former lawmaker, said in her am730 column that a debate among candidates would have had a more meaningful impact on turnout than the government’s promotional frenzy.

‘No fairness’ in the city

Ms. Choi, a 65-year-old who runs a street stall selling children’s clothing in the working-class district of Sham Shui Po, told HKFP she had no interest in voting on Sunday.

“I used to vote for the democrats in previous elections, but now I have no confidence in the new institution and all the candidates,” said Choi, who declined to give her full name. She added that she had noticed that there were no opposition candidates approved for the “patriots-only” poll: “If there was still one pro-democracy candidate [in my constituency], I would cast my ballot.”

Having run the stall for over three decades, Choi said business had slowed over the past three years, as many regular customers – mostly young families with children – had emigrated. “Now I feel lost about the future of Hong Kong – you can’t say anything, nor can you report issues [to authorities].”

Under the new system, any one who wishes to run has to secure three nominations from members of three government-appointed district committees. But, before the end of the nomination period, the government was slammed by lawmakers – and those hoping to run in the election – for refusing to disclose the contact details of nominating parties.

In the end, the Democratic Party’s six hopefuls were shut out of the race after failing to secure enough nominations, as were the two from the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood.

Across the street from Choi’s stall, Mr. Feng, an 80-year-old retiree, had just visited a doctor. When asked about the upcoming election, Feng talked about the recent case of young democracy activist Agnes Chow, who said she had fled Hong Kong and settled in Canada after undergoing a compulsory “re-education trip” to mainland China as a bail condition for the return of her passport.

“She was just arrested and not charged, but she lost her freedom in Hong Kong. There is no fairness in the city, what’s the point of voting?” Choi asked, adding that people have to be careful with their words now, as the authorities have made it illegal for anyone to incite others to boycott the election, or cast protest ballots.

“I am not asking others not to vote. It’s just me that’s not going to vote. ” the elderly man said.

‘Unbearable’

In front of Wong Tai Sin Temple, Wai – a man aged around 50 – said he was in no mood to cast a ballot: “I just became unemployed recently and came here to draw a fortune-telling stick. Look at what Hong Kong has become. We can’t even make a living – who cares about politics?” 

Wai said he had been working as a waiter for over 20 years, but the catering industry had seen fewer diners since the city’s borders were re-opened early this year following the Covid-19 pandemic. He was fired after the restaurant cut manpower. Wai attributed the business downturn to the new trend of Hongkongers heading across the Chinese border to consume during weekends and holidays, plus there are fewer foreign tourists compared to the pre-pandemic days.

 “Now, people’s livelihoods are unbearable, but – with this political atmosphere – I don’t dare to speak up. The government is still talking about enacting [local security law] Article 23. I am so worried that will make Hong Kong sink – foreign investment will be further reduced,” Wai said.  

At his public housing estate in Yau Tong, Wai said three candidates had been actively canvassing over recent days. “Some even paid door-to-door visits,” Wai said, though he has not voted for several years.

Benjamin, a civil servant aged around 30, told HKFP – using a pseudonym – that he had received at least four emails over the past week promoting the election and urging everyone to vote.

“I deleted them as soon as I saw the email titles… It’s meaningless to vote. Every candidate is pro-government,” Benjamin said in Cantonese. He noticed that the authorities had repeatedly mentioned that civil servants should vote, “but it’s not compulsory, and my superior did not push us to vote.”

As a pro-democracy supporter, Benjamin cast his ballot in the last district council election. “Elections should bring in diverse voices. If they don’t, it would be better not to waste taxpayers’ money on hosting an election. Just pick the person you like to do the job,” Benjamin said.

Gov’t is helping me

There were also voters who were keen to cast their ballots in the newly-restricted election.

On Battery Street in Jordan, Mohammad Arfan – who arrived from Pakistan 60 years ago – said he will definitely vote. The 72-year-old, who used to work as a security guard, said he always supported the government and voted for pro-establishment politicians. He said he had noticed the election overhaul, but thinks the new system is “nice” as Hong Kong should follow Beijing after the 1997 Handover and ensure a stable society. 

“I don’t like protests… As an old man, the government is helping me too much. I live in public housing, and the public hospital is free of charge,” Arfan said. 

On the same street in the district popular with ethnic minorities, Gurung Suren, a 27-year-old running a Nepalese store, also said he will vote on Sunday, though he declined to comment on the electoral overhaul. Born in Hong Kong, Suren is a descendant of Gurkhas – Nepalese soldiers recruited by the British Army and deployed to Hong Kong in 1948. 

In the Yau Tsim Mong South constituency there are six candidates running – half of them are ethnic minorities, including a Pakistan-born Hongkonger called Alex Ilyas Mohammad, Muhammad Fakhrul Islam – a Bangladeshi businessman – and Jimmy Baljinder, a fifth-generation Indian.

Half of the Yau Tsim Mong South hopefuls were members of the government-appointed committees responsible for nominating who can run.

Voting without knowing candidates

In Wong Tai Sin’s residential community, Ms. Lo, – a 67-year-old retiree – told HKFP that she will probably vote on Sunday, though she didn’t know any candidates in her community of Yuen Long, nor did she know much about the electoral revamp.

“We elderly folks don’t understand many things. And I was fully occupied by taking care of my mom who recently got the flu, ” Wong said, as she travelled from the northwest corner of Hong Kong to the east of Kowloon to visit her mother. 

The only thing different from previous election, Lo said, was it seemed that few candidates came out to meet the public for canvassing.

In Hong Kong island, near Wan Chai’s metro station, Grant, a mental health counsellor from South Africa who has been in Hong Kong for over 20 years, said he had not registered to vote as he was not very interested in politics anyway. “Especially for this election – I think I had lost faith in Hong Kong’s institutions,” he said. Grant added that he had noticed the government had put heavy resources into promoting the race, as a huge 10-metre election billboard towered over him.

“Encouraging people to vote is good, but I think it would be better to allocate the money to help the less fortunate,” Grant said. 

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https://hongkongfp.com/2023/12/10/hong-kongs-patriots-only-local-election-some-keen-to-cast-ballots-others-say-voting-futile-in-unfair-race/