Candidates in crucial Hong Kong by-election make frantic last-minute appeals as rain puts dampener on voter turnout
- Labour Party stalwart Lee Cheuk-yan urges people to cast their votes to rescue him from an ‘extreme emergency’
- Pro-establishment candidate Chan Hoi-yan says her campaign is in a ‘very, very critical situation’
Voter turnout on a gloomy, rain-soaked Sunday was expected to make all the difference as Hong Kong held a key legislative by-election marked by candidates making frantic, last-minute appeals for supporters to show up at polling booths.
Only about 200,000 residents – or 40 per cent of registered voters – had cast their ballots in the by-election for a Kowloon West seat in the Legislative Council, as two major contenders blamed the bad weather for the lack in enthusiasm.
Opposition stalwart Lee Cheuk-yan from the Labour Party and former official government official Chan Hoi-yan of the pro-establishment camp were neck and neck in a five-horse race for the final seat in the geographical constituency.
By 9.30pm, turnout stood at 41.51 per cent of the 487,000 registered voters. That was only 0.06 percentage points higher than at the same time for the March by-election in the same constituency, but 11.6 percentage points lower than for the 2016 general election.
Political analysts expected a higher voter turnout to boost Lee’s chances. Victory for him would restore the pan-democratic bloc’s veto power in Legco over their political rivals’ motions, including attempts to introduce changes to the chamber’s rule book.