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Hong Kong elections: mainland Chinese ‘drifters’, Westerners and Kowloon bus driver among mixed bag of candidates for Legco race
- Main opposition shun polls, but pro-Beijing veterans will be tested by diverse group of new faces
- Top state official hails diversity of 153 candidates cleared to contest December 19 race
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With the Legislative Council election on December 19 just around the corner, Xia Baolong, China’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs has said Beijing welcomes diversity under its principle that only “patriots” should run the city.
Using the Chinese phrase “five lights and 10 colours” to indicate diversity, he said Beijing looked forward to seeing people from across the political spectrum in the city’s establishment.
Pointing to the varied backgrounds of the 153 candidates, the director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office mentioned an electrician and bus driver, among those cleared to run.
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Analysts however argued that political ideology, not the candidates’ occupation, place of birth or age, was the proper yardstick to gauge diversity.
The election will be the first for the legislature since Beijing’s overhaul of the city’s electoral system to ensure that only patriots hold positions of power. Legco has been expanded from 70 to 90 seats, with 40 seats for the powerful new Election Committee constituency, 30 for mainly trade-based functional constituencies, and only 20 for directly elected members from geographical constituencies.
1) Centrist, non-establishment candidates
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