James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters – On Sunday, Hong Kong’s legislative assembly elections will be held. The candidates for the “patriotism” category have been vetted and those who are pro-democracy were largely absent. Many of them had declined to stand or were exiled.

    The reshaping of the Legislative Council is the first major restructuring of Hong Kong’s political system since the territory’s return to China from British rule in 1997.

WHAT IS SIGNIFICANT ABOUT THE ELECTION?

    This is the first citywide election to be held under a national security law imposed by China that took effect in June 2020.

    Critics say the law has been used to curb fundamental freedoms of speech and assembly, silence opposition, jail pro-democracy activists and disband civil rights groups, in contravention of the terms of the handover.

    Hong Kong and Chinese authorities say the law has restored stability and ended the disruption that mass protests had caused.

    Article 68 of the Basic Law, Hong-Kong’s mini-constitution, states universal suffrage for the legislature as an “ultimate aim”.

    But Beijing has said the changes to electoral law plug the “loopholes and deficiencies” that it said threatened national security after mass protests in 2019.

    Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, said some former pro-democracy lawmakers had been “anti-China disruptors” who had caused chaos.

    “National security and political security are inseparable. She stated in April that to achieve true national security governance must remain in the control of patriots.

    WHAT ARE THE KEY ELECTORAL CHANGES?

    The legislature has been enlarged to 90 from 70 seats, with the proportion of directly elected seats reduced from half to less than a quarter of seats – just 20.

    A 1,500-strong committee stacked with Beijing loyalists will directly select 40 legislators from a pool of around 50 candidates. Thirty seats will be filled by voters from different business and professional areas, including education and law.

    The Candidate Eligibility Review Committee, a group of senior Hong Kong officials working with national security police to conduct background checks on candidates for “patriotism”, has discretionary power to disqualify anyone.

    Critics say the changes make it next to impossible for democrats https://www.reuters.com/world/china/hong-kongs-jailed-exiled-democrats-lament-sunday-election-2021-12-16 to hold any substantial influence or act as a check on the executive.

    WHAT HAS BECOME OF PRO-DEMOCRACY POLITICIANS? 

    The main opposition parties, including the Democratic Party and Civic Party, have declined to run for election, characterising the poll as undemocratic.

A pro-Beijing panel vetted all 153 applicants. A few dozen candidates were deemed moderate or unaffiliated, indicating that they are not aligned with any side. Most of the remaining candidates were pro-Beijing, pro-establishment and proEstablishment.

    The pro-democracy parties had initially planned to take part in the election, which was slated for September 2020 but postponed due to coronavirus restrictions. They held an informal primary election in July 2020 to try and choose the best candidates, defying authorities.

    On Jan. 6, the Hong Kong police arrested over 50 pro-democracy politicians. In the following month, 47 people were arrested for conspiring to subvert by participating in the primary election. Thirty three are still in prison, while 14 remain on bail.

    HOW HAD DEMOCRATS FARED IN PREVIOUS POLLS?

    Since 1997, democratic politicians have consistently performed strongly in the four-yearly Legislative Council elections, especially in directly elected seats, and have been able to control more than a third of the assembly to form a veto bloc.

    In district council elections in 2019, a few months after millions agitated against Chinese control of the city, democrats won just under 90% of the seats.

    Despite attempts by Chinese and Hong Kong officials to drum up support for this election, many observers expect public discontent towards the electoral changes and the continuing crackdown under the national security law to keep turnout low. After protracted protests against the government and for democracy in 2019, authorities say that Hong Kong has been restored stability and order by electoral reforms and security law.    In 2016, 58% of the voters voted, compared to 43.6% for 2000.