Small, obscure but newly powerful: a closer look at community groups that will help decide make-up of Hong Kong’s Election Committee

The government has said the newly created grass-roots wing of the committee that chooses the city’s leader will represent the interests of the working class

But among the groups registered as voters are several that have barely made a ripple in wider society and count fewer than 200 followers on Facebook

Reading Time:4 minutes

Voters cast their ballots during the Election Committee subsector polls in December 2016. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 8:00am, 20 Jul 2021Updated: 6:52pm, 17 Sep 2021

Several obscure groups will help choose members of a revamped Election Committee that will decide Hong Kong’s next leader, a Post investigation has found.

The organisations successfully registered with the committee’s new grass-roots wing, a subsector created earlier this year to give the working class a wider say in government. A number of them, however, counted fewer than 200 followers on Facebook and shared an identical address.

Critics argued the inclusion of the little-known groups, with names such as “Enjoy Family Together”, “Happy People” and “Modern Mammy Group”, showed authorities were determined to find as many outfits as they needed to make the overhauled electoral system work.

But figures in the pro-establishment camp defended the groups’ contributions to the community, arguing they were performing valuable services but in a low-key way.

The little-known ‘Modern Mammy Group’ is among the newly empowered groups under Hong Kong’s radically overhauled electoral system. Photo: Facebook

The committee chooses the chief executive and following Beijing’s changes will also nominate all candidates for the legislature and field candidates for nearly half its 90 seats.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x