Hong Kong district council election 2023: opposition hopefuls struggle for backing, while pro-establishment figures report plain sailing
- Election will be first held under revamped system that requires all candidates receive nominations from district-level bodies, whose members are appointed by government
- Opposition hopefuls say they have yet to win support from members, while pro-establishment parties say backing for nearly 170 representatives is strong
The chairman of the Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood (ADPL), Bruce Liu Sing-lee, on Tuesday said its two members who hoped to run in the December poll had yet to receive any nominations from the three district-level bodies in their respective constituencies, which were needed to qualify.
“For any election, there should be an element of sportsmanship, just like the Asian Games or the World Games,” he told a press conference on the day electoral authorities began accepting nomination forms.
“Every athlete should be able to sign up and take part in the race. It would be very hard to justify if you move the goalposts so much that people cannot even apply to take part.”
The proportion of directly elected representatives was slashed from nearly 95 per cent to just 19 per cent, leaving 88 of 470 seats to be decided by popular vote.
Another 176 seats will be selected by government-appointed members of the three types of district committees stacked with Beijing loyalists.
Prospective candidates in these two categories will have to secure at least three nominations from each of the three district-level bodies, which are the area committees, district fire safety committees and crime-fighting committees.
Kwok Wai-shing, the party’s candidate for the Sham Shui Po East geographical constituency, said he had not received any promises of nominations from members of the district bodies, but nor had anyone refused.
“We need to be optimistic and use all of our strength to actively get nominations,” he said.
The hopeful added he had sent an email to the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau to obtain contact information of the members of the district bodies, and planned to reach out to all of them soon.
Pro-establishment members, however, have not encountered such difficulties in their bid to become candidates.
Hong Kong’s Democratic Party fields fewer-than-expected candidates for coming polls
The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions said it had secured most of the nominations needed for all of its 46 prospective candidates, while the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), the city’s biggest political party, described the process as smooth for it as well.
The DAB earlier said that it would field more than 120 candidates in December’s poll, whereas the Democratic Party and ADPL will have only six and two candidates respectively.
Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen on Tuesday said her bureau had consistently been helping members of society contact representatives of the district bodies.
Hong Kong district volunteers ‘to have funds cut if they unfairly back poll hopefuls’
Her bureau had made 230 referrals between September 30 and Tuesday for people hoping to contact the individuals for the purpose of nomination, she added.
“During the nomination process, every candidate has to work hard to get nominations from voters,” she said. “They need to let voters know things such as their ideals, their ambitions, their work in the area, their passion and their past work, so they can let voters decide whether they should nominate them.”
The city’s Electoral Affairs Commission will accept nominations until October 30. According to a statement from the Registration and Electoral Office, 88 nomination forms were received by authorities on Tuesday.
