Hong Kong elections: tsunami of disaffection washes over city as pro-Beijing camp left reeling by record turnout and landslide defeat

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Dispatch by Jeffie Lam, Sum Lok-kei, Ng Kang-chung 

South China Morning Post

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he anti-establishment reverberations from almost six months of street protests swept through polling stations across Hong Kong on Sunday, as voters in record numbers roundly rejected pro-Beijing candidates in favour of pan-democrats.

The tsunami of disaffection among voters was clear across the board, as pan-democrats rode the wave to win big in poor and rich neighbourhoods, in both protest-prone and non protest-afflicted districts and, in downtown areas as well as the suburbs.

Less immediately obvious was whether there was a generational divide in the way the people voted, but ousted pro-establishment district councillors suggested that young, first-time voters had been instrumental in dislodging them from their perch.

By 7am, the pro-democracy camp had gained a majority in at least 12 of the 18 district councils, taking 278 seats.

All councils were previously under pro-establishment control from the 2015 elections.

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US Democrat leader Pelosi with symbol of anti-Beijing protest: this is not called meddling.

The anti-establishment reverberations from almost six months of street protests swept through polling stations across Hong Kong on Sunday, as voters in record numbers roundly rejected pro-Beijing candidates in favour of pan-democrats.

The tsunami of disaffection among voters was clear across the board, as pan-democrats rode the wave to win big in poor and rich neighbourhoods, in both protest-prone and non protest-afflicted districts and, in downtown areas as well as the suburbs.

Less immediately obvious was whether there was a generational divide in the way the people voted, but ousted pro-establishment district councillors suggested that young, first-time voters had been instrumental in dislodging them from their perch.

By 7am, the pro-democracy camp had gained a majority in at least 12 of the 18 district councils, taking 278 seats.

All councils were previously under pro-establishment control from the 2015 elections.

Youthful, fresh-faced candidates, many of whom were active in the anti-government protests roiling the city over the past six months, were among prominent winners of the historic district council elections which had arecord turnout of 2.94 million voters, representing 71.2 per cent of registered electors, up from the previous figure of 47 per cent in 2015.

In a stunning setback that could force an internal reshuffle, the city’s largest pro-establishment party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), which fielded 179 candidates, won only 21 seats as of 5.30am on Monday.

Their chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king defended her seat in To Kwa Wan North, Kowloon City district. Lee fended off former lawmaker “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung of the pro-democracy camp.

The dramatically changing colour of the 452-member district council map from the predominantly blue stronghold of the pro-Beijing ranks, which held 292 seats before the polls, to the pan-democratic camp’s yellow hue became clear from early on as counting began when polls closed at 10.30pm.

Lawmaker Tien lost his seat in Discovery Park in Tsuen Wan to pro-democracy candidate Lau Cheuk-yu. “I respect the electorate’s decision,” Tien said.

The losses sustained by the DAB were reminiscent of that which it faced in 2003. Back then, only 62 out of 206 candidates won in the staunchly pro-Beijing party. That came after half a million people took to the streets to oppose the proposal to enact national security laws under Article 23 of the Basic Law.

The devastating election results prompted the resignation of Jasper Tsang Yok-sing. Any post mortem conducted by the party is likely to lead to a shake-up of its key leadership.

Federation of Trade Unions’ legislators Alice Mak Mei-kuen and Ho Kai-ming were among other veterans booted out. Mak, who gained recent notoriety for uttering an expletive at Lam during a closed-door meeting over the decision to withdraw the extradition bill, blamed her loss on the administration.

“The administration’s governance has given rise to so many public grievances. In the election campaign, pro-government candidates have been unfairly treated. This is a very important reason,” Mak said.

She said she had been serving her constituents diligently for more than a quarter of a century but in a divided society, “it’s not about our work, it’s about our political stance”.

Among the young winners, at least five activists from the Occupy movement of 2014, which opposed Beijing’s electoral reforms, won seats, nudging out veterans.

Occupy student activist Lester Shum, who ousted Chow Ping-tim in Hoi Bun district, was emotional in victory. “The government must respond to our five demands as soon as possible,” he said. “We can be happy for tonight and take a rest tomorrow, but we will need to keep up our fight the day after for the future of Hong Kong.”
Political crisis makes Hongkongers abroad come home to vote

The five demands have been the clarion call of protesters during the past six months of demonstrations, sparked by the now-withdrawn extradition bill, which had since morphed into a full-blown anti-government movement that has resulted in increasingly violent clashes with police.

The five demands are for the withdrawal of the bill, an agreement not to call the clashes of June 12 a riot, amnesty for those arrested on that day, a commission inquiry into allegations of excessive use of force by the police and a push for genuine universal suffrage.

All five Occupy activists were prime movers of the peaceful protests over the past months. Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, the convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, the organiser of the mass marches of the movement, was also among those elected. Sham, who was still wearing crutches and recovering from an attack by hammer-wielding thugs, called on Lam to listen to the people’s voice and address the five demands.

“I hoped the pro-democracy bloc could win more than half of the seats in district council elections,” Sham said. He hoped the pan-democrats would try their best to carry out their duties to prove that “supporters of democracy are more outstanding than those who support the establishment”.

Another key winner was Kelvin Lam, 40, who replaced Occupy co-founder Joshua Wong Chi-fung on the ticket after the latter was banned from running because of his stance on self-determination. Lam beat incumbent Judy Chan of the New People’s Party by 4,100 votes to 3,100 in the South Horizons West constituency.

The election results are a shock to those who believe people can't descend to such depths of self-wounding imbeclity. But via propaganda, they surely can.

“The high turnout rate did benefit the pro-democracy camp,” Kelvin Lam said. “The result is like a referendum of the current administration, like a confidence vote.”

Hong Kong fake democracy protesters. Ignorant and westernised youth weaponised by the empire against Beijing. Center: the notorious Joshua Wong, poster boy for US penetration. Objectively a traitor by any standard.

That unmistakably qualifies as interfering in Hong Kong’s domestic affairs. Imagine if China suddenly takes a humanitarian interest in the average 1,000 civilians killed by US police every year or in America having the world’s highest incarceration rate, relative to its population size. Most of those jailed are blacks and Hispanics, thereby disenfranchising one in six black men from voting. It’s the new Jim Crow. They all sound much worse than anything happening in Hong Kong.

No matter. Many locals, including all pan-democratic lawmakers, cheered the law’s passage, now awaiting the US president’s signature.

The city’s anti-government activists and lawmakers have been travelling the world to claim how bad China was in repressing Hong Kong. Several US senators came to Hong Kong, stayed a few days and “confirmed” how bad things really were. And they say Hong Kong is not free?

Now the US State Department has cited the continuing unrest as proof of the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy. Doesn’t it prove the opposite, as Beijing has taken a hands-off approach?

Our protesters/rioters have been “awarded” the John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service. Wait a minute: I thought they prided themselves on having no leaders! Former lawmaker Emily Lau Wai-hing and activist Figo Chan Ho-wun of Civil Human Rights Front will accept the prize “on behalf of all Hongkongers”. How did they come to represent the movement, let alone the people of Hong Kong, many of whom object to the dismal violence and destruction of their city? Those who find the award absurd and offensive should take a stand and reject it.

Unfortunately, some Hong Kong people, especially young ones, rather side with the US against China as they tear their own city apart. That’s called treason in most places. In Hong Kong, it’s a protected freedom!