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Hong Kong legislative polls attract fewer voters

Hong Kong’s people turned out in thinner numbers yesterday for legislative elections that threatened to set back the pro-democracy opposition and its push for greater political freedoms in the territory.

The opposition camp was expected to win fewer votes than in the 2004 election as concerns about wages, education and inflation overshadowed issues of democratic reform. Four years ago, democratic parties captured new seats amid widespread anger over Beijing-backed officials and policies.

“The democrats face a tough fight,” said Ma Ngok (馬嶽), a political analyst at Hong Kong’s Chinese University. “They could see their presence in the legislature diminished.”

Polls were to stay open for 15 hours, with results expected this morning. Turnout was lagging the pace of the last legislative poll, reaching less than 27 percent by early yesterday evening. A record 55 percent of registered voters cast ballots in 2004.

With all 60 legislative seats up for grabs, aspirants fanned out across the territory to rally supporters.

They chanted slogans from open-top buses cruising through neighborhoods and visited restaurants armed with bundles of campaign leaflets. Election banners and flags adorned buildings everywhere.

Opinion polls showed that high-profile, pro-democracy figures such as Emily Lau (劉慧卿), who has been fighting for democracy in the legislature for 17 years, and maverick activist Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄) might lose their seats.

Voters directly pick 30 of Hong Kong’s lawmakers, but the other 30 are chosen by special-interest groups such as business leaders, doctors and accountants, who are expected to back pro-Beijing candidates.

The former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. China sought to quel debate over democratic reform last year when it announced that the territory could elect its own leader in 2017 and all of its legislators in 2020, at the earliest.
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