Hong Kong holds first 'patriots only' local elections

On Sunday, polls began in Hong Kong’s first “patriots only” district council election, with officials dismissing fears about poor turnout in a race that has barred all opposition candidates following a national security crackdown.

The last election was held at the height of the massive, often violent, democratic protests in 2019, and had a historic-high turnout of 71 percent, resulting in a landslide victory for the pro-democracy side.

The city authorities altered the structure of the councils earlier this year as part of the widespread crackdown on political opposition, supported by a national security statute imposed by Beijing in 2020.

Authorities have attempted to drum up enthusiasm for the election, covering the city with posters urging Hong Kongers to vote, but on Sunday morning, polling booths appeared empty in the wealthy Mid-Levels area.

“It must be the patriots ruling Hong Kong — this is our principle,” said a civil engineer surnamed Lee, a lone early voter, adding “the election wouldn’t be affected just because some (candidates) can’t be part of it”.

According to new rules announced in May, seats for direct election were slashed from 462 to 88, with the other 382 seats controlled by the city leader, government loyalists and rural landlords.

Candidates are required to seek nominations from three government-appointed committees, which effectively shut out all pro-democracy parties.

Over 70 percent of the directly elected candidates were committee members.

The new rules covering this election and other changes to Hong Kong’s system of governance have been described as ensuring positions of power are filled only by people considered by Beijing to be “patriots”.

City leader John Lee said that one of the main criteria for district councillors — after “passion” and “diligence” — must be “unified” thoughts.

“There should be no more political dissonance,” he said Wednesday on RTHK, the city’s official broadcaster.

But this new arrangement is “likely to produce (district councils) that are more like government echo chambers”, said scholar John Burns, an expert in Hong Kong politics and public administration.

“Authorities are trying to change the political culture of Hong Kongers… Allowing a more diverse field of candidates would undermine the government’s campaign to rid Hong Kong of such opposition,” he told AFP.

Senior officials have rejected concerns about potentially low voter participation, with Erick Tsang, the constitutional affairs minister overseeing the election, saying that “the turnout rate cannot be an indicator of the (new) system’s success”.

More than 12,000 police officers were deployed across the city to prevent disturbances in the election, according to local media.

On Tuesday, a 38-year-old man was charged for reposting a video of an overseas commentator that allegedly incited people to boycott the election.

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