Against a backdrop of colorful banners and fluttering flags, Hong Kong politician Allan Wong is trying to get morning commuters excited about the upcoming “patriots only” Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo) polls.
Wong, 41, is one of 153 people vetted for their political loyalty and allowed to stand in a new system that has drastically curtailed who can run for office.
Polling data show that turnout for the elections on Sunday could hit record lows, but Wong is undeterred.
Photo: AFP
On a housing estate in his constituency, he tries to engage residents with conversation and leaflets. Some stop to chat, most walk on.
“I need to go to the street, introduce myself, get in touch with voters and the public, and do the best I can to explain what I want to do,” he said.
It is not an easy sell. In a quiet neighborhood of Tai Wai Village, constituents tend to project ennui.
A middle-aged couple said they had no plans to vote this year, but declined to say why because such discussion was “too sensitive.”
A young man, who gave his surname as Pang, said in the last local polls he voted for a pro-democracy candidate who is now in self-imposed exile overseas.
Pang called this year’s vote “pointless,” because even those who want to distance themselves from the establishment must still play by Beijing’s rules.
Hong Kong has never been a full democracy, but until recently, a vocal minority of Beijing critics was tolerated, something that made previous local elections periods of colorful and at times rambunctious debate.
Now the pro-democracy opposition has been demolished under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law that has criminalized much dissent, combined with new political rules designed to purge “anti-China” elements.
Under the new system, just 20 of the territory’s 90 LegCo seats are directly elected — down from half. The rest are chosen by reliably pro-Beijing committees.
One of those committees is made up of 1,500 people — 0.02 percent of Hong Kong’s population — and chooses 40 seats.
Additionally, all aspiring candidates now have to be vetted, and only those deemed sufficiently patriotic can stand for office.
Traditional opposition figures — including many elected pro-democracy lawmakers — have been jailed, disqualified or have fled overseas.
The result is a comparatively uniform candidate slate jostling for an even smaller piece of the legislative pie this year.
Wong is about as close as you can get to a non-establishment politician within this new system.
Campaigning on local constituency issues with a smattering of environmentalism, he said he identifies as neither pro-democracy nor pro-Beijing.
Instead he sees himself as a “third way” candidate, although he said that is a tricky pitch in a territory where residents have tended to vote for pro-democracy figures when they are given a chance.
He is also realistic about the new LegCo being dominated by China loyalists.
“Even if [non-establishment candidates] all win seats in the Legislative Council, we are just the minority, like 10 seats or even less,” he said.
Chinese officials say their new system would bring Hong Kong back on the right track after the huge pro-democracy protests that engulfed the territory two years ago.
Officials also say that the new system would also ensure that the LegCo — a previously boisterous debating chamber — would no longer be bogged down by the minority opposition filibustering.
On Monday, Xia Baolong (夏寶龍), director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing, said Hong Kong had wasted time “blindly seeking Western-style democracy.”
A plurality of backgrounds and views was still permitted, he added.
Kenneth Chan (陳家洛), a political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, said Xia’s remarks came from a “parallel universe” that is disconnected from many Hong Kongers.
Chan described the upcoming race as “heavily manipulated from start to finish.”
“We are in a very different game, a game that Hong Kong people are not comfortable with,” he said.
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