Hong Kong’s opposition politicians get chance at game-changing comeback next March
Odds in their favour as fractured pan-democrats plan strategy to win back Legislative Council seats taken from colleagues over improper oath-taking
The government announced on Thursday that the polls would be scheduled for March 11, setting the stage for a showdown between former lawmakers, young democracy activists and pro-establishment district councillors.
Political observers said the odds were in the pan-democrats’ favour, but members of the camp would have to overcome internal divisions and coordinate strategies to put forward their strongest candidates.
“The moderate pan-democrats should be able to win. I don’t see the localists or so-called separatists making much noise this time,” Chinese University political scientist Ma Ngok said.
Some 2.1 million registered voters will decide who gets the Legislative Council seats vacated by Demosisto’s Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Youngspiration’s Yau Wai-ching and Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang in the Hong Kong Island, Kowloon West and New Territories East geographical constituencies respectively.
More than 7,600 voters in the architectural, surveying, planning and landscape functional constituency will choose someone to fill the fourth seat, left empty by Edward Yiu Chung-yim.