1,000 march in protest against small-circle vote on eve of Hong Kong leadership election
Organiser Civil Human Rights Front says it did not intend to change the outcome, but event was meant to highlight democracy
Hundreds of Hongkongers took to the streets on Saturday to oppose Beijing’s influence on the chief executive election, which takes place on Sunday.
“We want universal suffrage. We want to abolish the small-circle election,” Au Nok-hin, convenor of Civil Human Rights Front – the protest organiser – said.
He said the move was not intended to change the final results, but to remind people what true democracy meant. “No matter which candidate is elected, this is not democracy,” he said.
Au said about 1,000 people turned up for the protest, which was at the lower end of initial estimates pegged at 1,000 to 2,000. Members from the Civic Party, Labour Party, Democratic Party and the Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood attended the march.
The protest did not end with Saturday’s march, however. Au said demonstrators planned to camp outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre – where Election Committee members would cast their ballots on Sunday – if the weather allowed, while another march to the venue would be organised during the voting in the morning.