Letters | Radical Hong Kong Legislative Council candidates must focus on transformation, not mutual destruction

Name: More than 610,000 vote in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition primary elections
Uploaded: 2020-07-21T23:25:05.000Z
Duration: 2 min 7 s
Description: More than 610,000 vote in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition primary elections

Lessons from history suggest that once the old system starts to collapse, the lack of agreed plans for what should replace it leads to revolutionary groups fighting among themselves, and supporters of the old system returning

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Young activists and localist candidates, who won the pro-democracy camp’s Legco primary, pose for a photograph at a press conference in Mong Kok on July 15. Photo: Sam Tsang

Letters

Published: 7:25am, 22 Jul 2020Updated: 7:25am, 22 Jul 2020

The results of the opposition primaries, part of a plan to secure over 35 seats in the Legislative Council, indicate that many Hongkongers are tired of traditional pan-democrats, who have perhaps been regarded as the villains on the road to democracy in Hong Kong.

I am not trying to start a generational battle, but it is crystal clear that people are more willing to put their faith in radical, unknown young localists who believe in “mutual destruction”, instead of the old approach advocated by experienced political celebrities.

In a polarised society and amid a chaotic political environment, all potential Legco candidates from the opposition camp seem to have no choice but to consider either mutual destruction or transformation.

If you watched the primary debates in each district, you would have noticed a common phenomenon: young candidates, who proclaimed themselves part of the “fighting camp”, criticising traditional pan-democrats, especially Democratic Party candidates, for among other things, their remarks, voting records, attendance and dealings with the central government.

02:07

More than 610,000 vote in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition primary elections

Neither their public policy philosophy nor their vision for the development of Hong Kong was discussed during election forums. The entire focus was on how to achieve mutual destruction in Legco.

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.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | Radical Hong Kong Legislative Council candidates must focus on transformation, not mutual destruction

Letters | Radical Hong Kong Legislative Council candidates must focus on transformation, not mutual destruction