Localist candidates still not on Legislative Council ballot as nominations close
Hong Kong Indigenous strikes deal with other nativists to make sure one side makes the polls
The fate of eight radical localists who plan to run in September’s Legislative Council polls is up in the air as the electoral office had not yet validated their candidacies by the close of the nomination period on Friday.
Some were already looking at alternative strategies. One of them, who was forced to give up his stance on Hong Kong independence, came up with a new plan in the hope of getting an ally into the legislature.
A record number of 153 candidate lists have been submitted to the Electoral Affairs Commission for September, compared with 137 in 2012.
The polls on September 4, for a 3.77 million-strong electorate, will mark a turning point in Hong Kong’s political history, as a fifth of the previous incumbents have stepped down to make way for a younger generation.
Some 12 of the 70 Legco seats for the taking are set to be returned uncontested.
It will also be the last showdown between pan-democrats and pro-establishment bloc before the city’s leader is elected in March. The pan-democrats are fighting to keep their critical one-third minority in the legislature to block any significant government bill – on political reform or national security, for instance – they deem unacceptable.