Days after voters gave Hong Kong's top pro-Beijing party a big thumbs-down, critics fear Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) could fuel public anger if he uses his powers to appoint a bunch of allies to the territory's local councils.
The outcome of the District Council elections was a "political tsunami" that could intensify if the unpopular Tung uses appointments to effectively stack the deck, political scientist Michael DeGolyer said.
Under Hong Kong's system that critics call rigged, ordinary voters were able to fill 400 seats on the 18 councils -- but Tung can now appoint up to 102 more.
Although the District Councils are charged with advising the government on local issues like garbage collection and traffic, the tone of the races turned decidedly political following a July 1 march that drew a half million people into the streets protesting against Tung and an anti-subversion bill that many called a threat to civil liberties.
Tung eventually backed down on the anti-subversion bill, but the march gave birth to a so-called "people power" movement in Hong Kong that has shown staying power.
Political analysts predicted yesterday that Tung will top off the councils with pro-government business leaders, like he did last time, watering down the voice of the people and leaving him increasingly isolated as Hong Kong braces for legislative races next year that could spell bad news for the government.
"A magnanimous gesture on the part of Tung would be to abolish the appointment system, but certainly he will not do it," said Joseph Cheng (鄭宇碩), head of political science at the City University.
"I predict he will continue to appoint pro-government people with a high proportion of businessmen," he said.
Tung's office declined early yesterday to say whether Tung will make any appointments. Hong Kong Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam (林瑞麟) ruled out picking any failed candidates for council seats.
"Our policy is not to appoint candidates who lost in the elections," Lam said.
With more citizens clamoring for greater democracy in Hong Kong, which now limits the power of rank-and-file voters, the biggest pro-government, pro-Beijing party was hurt badly in the local races.
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, or DAB, claimed just 62 contested seats, a loss of 21 when compared with the last District Council election in 1999. The opposition Democratic Party scored 92 seats, compared with 86 last time.
DAB Chairman Jasper Tsang (曾鈺成) submitted a resignation following "the worst defeat we have suffered" and if the party accepts, Tsang's future on Tung's top policymaking body, the Executive Council, is in doubt.
The local elections could be a preview of next year's legislative races, in which ordinary voters will get to fill 30 of the 60 Legislative Council seats, as opposed to just 24 last time.
The other half will be chosen by special interest groups in the September elections.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS