The varied Hong Kong cast battling it out for Election Committee seats
A director and a composer, a travel agency boss running in the religious subsector ... just some of the intriguing contests for places on the body that picks the next chief executive
In a month’s time, more than 246,000 voters will pick the 1,200 members of the Election Committee, which in March will select the city’s chief executive for a five-year term.
1. Dogfights in welfare and health services
The social welfare subsector has the most candidates – at least 100 hopefuls, mainly from various factions in the pro-democracy camp, are vying for 60 seats.
But in terms of the ratio between the number of candidates and seats, competition is even more intense in the health services subsector, where at least 87 aspirants – from both the pan-democratic and pro-establishment camps – are fighting for 30 seats. That means there are about three candidates contesting every seat.
2. Directors and composer fighting for seats
Four years ago, veteran comic actor-director Stephen Chow Sing-chi was the most famous person among the performing arts subsector’s 15 representatives.