Hong Kong electoral changes: ‘national security law, patriots’ should be publicity theme of coming Legislative Council polls
- Electoral authorities present budget of promotional campaign for coming Legco race to lawmakers, but are accused of ‘missing the point’
- Officials asked to proactively meet public to explain elections overhaul instead of expecting people to read prepared material
Pro-establishment legislators also said authorities should explain to voters the rationale behind the city’s drastic electoral changes, and that they should not cast ballots for “anti-China disrupters”.
Electoral officials were presenting the government’s HK$37.7 million (US$4.8 million) plan to promote the December 19 Legislative Council elections at a meeting by the chamber’s constitutional affairs panel on Monday.
The first segment of the two-phase campaign, to be launched in early October, will focus on promoting clean elections, while the second part, to follow in mid-October, will be on encouraging people to vote.
The messages would be conveyed to the public through television, radio and forums, as well as popular online and social media platforms, lawmakers heard.
But Elizabeth Quat, of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), said officials had “missed the point”.