Hong Kong district council election: John Lee warns hopefuls nominations not ‘at your fingertips’ after some struggle to secure backing
- City leader says struggling candidates in first district council poll since overhaul should self-reflect, after some contenders report uphill battle
- Some hopefuls, particularly those from the opposition camp, say they are struggling to secure nominations or reach potential backers due to lack of contact information
Hong Kong’s leader has warned aspirants in the coming district council race that election nominations are not “at your fingertips”, as some struggling contenders argued potential backers under the new system had other considerations in mind.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday responded to concerns over whether the revised entry criteria could undermine the legitimacy of the poll on December 10 and argued hopefuls might have failed to convince nominators of their patriotism.
He also encouraged unsuccessful candidates to reflect on why they were knocked out of the running.
“Anyone who takes part in elections knows they must work hard, as nominations are not at your fingertips. They must use all methods available,” Lee said before his weekly meeting with key decision-making body the Executive Council.
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The coming district council election is the first since city authorities revamped the municipal-level bodies earlier this year as part of a series of electoral overhauls under Beijing’s “patriots-only” governance model.
The overhaul came after the city’s opposition camp secured a landslide victory in the 2019 district council poll at the height of the anti-government protests that year. At the time, nearly 95 per cent of seats were returned by the popular vote.
Under the new system, the proportion of directly elected seats has been slashed to just 19 per cent, with the bulk of members in each of the 18 district councils being appointed by the chief executive or elected by members of three district-level committees packed with Beijing loyalists.
Those hoping to compete in the election must secure nine nominations from the area committees and also undergo national security vetting.
The nomination period for this year’s election will close on October 31.
Some hopefuls, particularly those from the opposition camp, said they were struggling to secure nominations or even speak to committee members due to a lack of available contact information.
But the city’s leader attributed any lack of success when campaigning for nominations to candidates failing to impress committee members.
“Firstly, the nominator thinks that they could not fulfil the responsibilities that are expected of a district councillor. They may have reservations about their performance,” Lee said.
“They also may not believe the candidate is a person who loves this country and Hong Kong, or that they will truthfully uphold ‘one country, two systems’, nor be loyal to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.”
Hong Kong opposition parties struggle for district council poll support
The chief executive stressed that those who could not achieve these “basic requirements” should reflect on why they failed to secure nominations.
He pointed to some “political rookies” who had qualified to run for office and argued they were proof that the overhaul was working.
“The most important thing is that the rules of the entire electoral process are fair, just and open. The government has already rendered its assistance,” he said.
Among those struggling to secure nominations were four of the five candidates fielded by the Roundtable party, which was founded by National People’s Congress (NPC) deputy Michael Tien Puk-sun.
Tien, who also serves as a lawmaker and described himself as a “liberal nationalist”, was not among the party members hoping to run for a district council seat.
He said Lee’s remarks about unsuccessful candidates were not relevant to the Roundtable hopefuls and referred to non-establishment contenders.
“I’m a three-term NPC deputy and a directly elected Legislative Council member of the locality. My nine offices in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long have been running for two years,” Tien said.
“No matter how you see it, we should fit those criteria, which makes it appear even stranger. I’d love to hear from the chief executive what his thoughts are about us not getting nominations.”
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Meanwhile, Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood contender Kwok Wai-shing said many of the nominators had ties to the pro-establishment camp and might consider factors beyond the standard criteria when deciding whether to support contenders.
Kwok pointed to the four pro-Beijing hopefuls who had submitted nominations to run for directly electable seats in Sham Shui Po East, where he was also campaigning, and felt the contenders were worried an opposition candidate might prevent the pro-establishment bloc from securing the constituency’s two available seats.
“We will leave it to the people to judge whether this is a fair, just and open election,” he said.
