Hong Kong Election Committee polls: hundreds of prominent members and tycoons in street outreach, but bid seen as ‘publicity stunt’
- Move follows Beijing’s demand that businessmen and heavyweight loyalists take to the streets to gather views from residents and boost voter sentiment
- Race expected to be uncompetitive, with voter base cut by 97 per cent, and most members of the powerful body already established in walkover wins
Hundreds of prominent Hong Kong businessmen and Beijing loyalists who sit on the powerful Election Committee that picks the city’s leader launched a campaign over the weekend to boost public interest in the body’s coming elections.
The central government’s liaison office had tasked the heavyweights with carrying out the unprecedented outreach drive ahead of the September 19 races, according to a source.
“We were told that face-to-face interactions are a must,” said one lawmaker and ex officio committee member on condition of anonymity. “We can’t hold on to the post while doing nothing.”
But one analyst dismissed the exercise as a “publicity stunt” for polls that lacked credibility after Beijing’s revamp of the electoral system that sharply curtailed individual voting for seats in the 1,500-member body.
In the bid to drum up public interest, the pro-establishment bloc set up more than 1,000 booths across the city on Saturday following a ceremony led by Tam Yiu-chung, the city’s sole representative to China’s top legislative body.
Tam said he hoped Election Committee members could help promote Beijing’s concept of “patriots” positioned at the helm of Hong Kong so as to “lead the city towards better governance”.
Anyone, including members of the opposition parties, could run for a legislative seat in the future if they found themselves suitable, he said.
At a booth set up in Wan Chai, Sun Hung Kai Properties chairman Raymond Kwok Ping-luen and former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen were handing out fliers and talking to residents. As ex officio members both are guaranteed seats on the committee.
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“There are fewer voters this time, thus it is normal that the atmosphere is not that intense compared to last time,” Tang said. “I guess people will be more involved when it comes to the Legislative Council elections by the end of this year.”
Over on Queen’s Road Central, lawmakers Martin Liao Cheung-kong and Abraham Razack manned a booth in the baking heat and distributed leaflets, but only about a dozen people were seen taking an interest in the roughly one hour a Post reporter spent at the scene.
“We hope passers-by will be informed that we are committed to reaching a goal – that only patriots will govern the city – and to successfully go through the coming three elections in a proper manner,” said Liao, convenor of the pro-establishment camp in the Legislative Council. He was referring to the races for the Election Committee, Legco in December and the chief executive in March.
Politicians such as himself needed to understand the public’s concerns going into Legco polls and when electing the next chief executive, he said.
A semi-retired couple in their 60s who took a flier from Razack said they supported patriots running the city as it would form a basis for stability and prosperity.
“Our youngsters need to reconcile themselves with the fact that Hong Kong’s future rests on its relationship with mainland China,” the husband said.
Pansy Ho Chiu-king, Shun Tak Holdings chairwoman, arrived at a booth at Sheung Wan in the late afternoon. A daughter of late casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun, she is running unopposed in the subsector for Hong Kong members of national organisations.
Lawyer Carmen Kan Wai-mun, who is running unopposed in the same subsector as Ho, also made an appearance at the booth in Sheung Wan.
Under Beijing’s overhaul of the electoral system, a new “patriotic” sector consisting of 300 seats
was added to the Election Committee, which itself was given the new responsibility of deciding who can contest elections and sending some of its members to Legco.
In the shake-up, Beijing drastically cut the voter base and replaced individual ballots in many subsectors with corporate voting. Only 7,900 people have registered as voters to select members, a plunge of 97 per cent following the political shake-up decreed by Beijing.
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Political analyst Chung Kim-wah expressed scepticism over whether the prominent pro-Beijing figures were genuinely gathering views on the streets.
“The publicity stunt won’t work, as the credibility of the entire election has been undermined,” said Chung, also a deputy executive director of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute.
He argued Beijing was manipulating the electoral system and residents would have a diminished interest in learning more about the polls considering the vastly reduced voter base.
Polls will be held in 13 out of 40 subsectors of the committee, with more than 400 candidates contesting some 370 seats. But over 1,100 people in the remaining 27 subsectors, which take up more than 75 per cent of the spots, have already confirmed they will be members.
In the uncontested catering subsector, all 16 members, mostly owners or top executives of restaurant chains, will team up to engage diners over the weekend.
“I plan to spend a couple of hours explaining to people what this is about,” said Allan Zeman, Lan Kwai Fong Group chairman and an Election Committee member since 2006. “I think it is an important step in an uncontested election, at least everyone is going out to understand what people need.”
Over the past fortnight, members from the pro-establishment bloc who will not face challengers held several press conferences to explain their ideas.
Second-generation billionaires appeared at the most recent one on Thursday, attended by more than 100 Beijing loyalists, who are ex officio committee members.
They included CK Hutchison founder Li Ka-shing’s son Victor Li Tzar-kuoi and Henderson Land Development co-chairman Peter Lee Ka-kit. Both are delegates of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top advisory body, and did not speak to the media during the one-hour press conference.
Richard Li Tzar-kai, Li’s youngest son, was returned uncontested in the Employers’ Federation of Hong Kong subsector. Peter Lee’s brother, Martin Lee Ka-shing, was returned uncontested in the real estate and construction subsector.
Third-generation family members in the elections include Christopher Kwok Kai-wang and Adam Kwok Kai-fai from Sun Hung Kai Properties, as well as Sonia Cheng Chi-man and her brother Adrian Cheng Chi-kong from New World Development. All four were returned uncontested.
Christopher Kwok, son of Sun Hung Kai Properties chairman and managing director Raymond Kwok, was returned uncontested in the Employers’ Federation of Hong Kong subsector.
Businesswoman Maisy Ho, another daughter of Stanley Ho, took a seat uncontested in the grass-roots associations subsector.
A second-generation tycoon, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that as the electoral process was “much more controlled and planned” this time, tycoons were unlikely to exert as much political sway over the city’s leadership race as before.
He added that rather than trying to influence the chief executive election, many of his allies in the committee mainly joined because their absence would upset Beijing.
“Nowadays they and their scions run in the revamped Election Committee because it is virtue-signalling – you support the new constitutional order, therefore you continue participating in the election as you did before,” the tycoon said.
Additional reporting by Gary Cheung
