Thousands of people living in the New Territories have won the right to vote and stand for office in village elections following a landmark court decision last month.
Under rules dating back to the British acquisition of the New Territories in 1898, only male de scendants of those residing in villages prior to the British arrival could vote or run for office in village elections. At the time, many villagers were violently opposed to the British occupation. The exclusive voting privileges extended to them were designed in part to placate opposition to British rule.
The voting restrictions have proved controversial in recent years as more and more 'indige nous villagers' left their areas and outsiders moved in.
Many of these indigenous vil lagers are now living in urban areas. Others have left Hong Kong. According to the rules overturned by the court, however, indigenous villagers - regardless of where they were living - continued to have the exclusive right to vote and run for office in their ancestral villages. These included male descendants who had taken foreign nationality and even those who had been born abroad. Other people moving to these villages - including a few who were actually born there - have been denied the right to vote and run for office.
The Court of Appeal upheld lower court rulings that limiting the right to run for office or vote in village elections violated the Basic Law. The Basic Law has served as Hong Kong's mini- constitution since the handover.
The three judges rejected a government argument that changes in voting rights should be introduced gradually. The Government claimed that 'open hostilities' could result if the changes were implemented too quickly. Indigenous villagers have long argued that they are more familiar with traditional affairs and are therefore more suitable to run their villages.
