https://www.scmp.com/rss/511321/feed The 2021 Hong Kong Legislative Council election is scheduled to take place on December 19, 2021. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Hong Kong’s Legislative Council election, held under revamped electoral rules on December 19, was rebuked by the US-led Five Eyes coalition, G7 nations and the European Union as undermining Hong Kong people’s rights and freedoms and depriving the new legislature of “meaningful political opposition”, among other accusations. As if anticipating such criticism, on December 20, China issued its first-ever white paper on Hong Kong’s democratic progress under “one country, two systems”. Beijing argued... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3161663/watch-how-hong-kong-charts-its-own-course-democracy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3161663/watch-how-hong-kong-charts-its-own-course-democracy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Jan 2022 01:15:22 +0000 With the change of perspective that comes with time, Post columnists look back on their work and share what stood out to them in a memorable year. Cliff Buddle I have followed Hong Kong’s democratic hopes and dreams for 27 years and sought in this column to provide a little historical context following the dramatic reforms of 2021. The column was published soon after the reforms were made in March. Their impact, especially on the Legislative Council election held in December, has been one of the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3161396/look-back-2021-post-columnists-pick-their-favourite-columns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3161396/look-back-2021-post-columnists-pick-their-favourite-columns?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Dec 2021 19:30:26 +0000 The general election for the seventh-term Legislative Council of Hong Kong took place last Sunday, signifying the development of Hong Kong’s democracy under the improved electoral system. The white paper titled “Hong Kong: Democratic Progress Under the Framework of One Country, Two Systems”, released by the central government on Monday, further reveals the real picture of Hong Kong’s political development. It shows that the Communist Party and the Chinese government support the development of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3160657/white-paper-underlines-hong-kongs-healthy-shift-away-western-style?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3160657/white-paper-underlines-hong-kongs-healthy-shift-away-western-style?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Dec 2021 22:45:20 +0000 The outcome of the revamped Legislative Council election was bound to be vastly different from what went before, not only because of the new rules of the game, but also the changing political atmosphere and landscape. Even though Sunday’s high-stakes ballot offers few surprises following a largely uneventful process, it opens a new chapter in the city’s development under the so-called principle of patriots administering Hong Kong. From voter turnout and the new political line-up to the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3160465/patriots-helm-new-legco-had-better-deliver-city-challenges-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3160465/patriots-helm-new-legco-had-better-deliver-city-challenges-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Dec 2021 00:30:13 +0000 As I approached my polling station to vote on Sunday morning, I was taken aback by the presence of at least a dozen police milling around the entrance. Some were clad in bulletproof vests. Having never voted in a Hong Kong election in the past, I was unsure if what I was seeing was typical or a show of force reflective of a disquieting “new normal” in our city. Somewhat to my relief, the police presence turned out to have been inflated by members of the security detail for Financial Secretary... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3160379/flawed-legislative-council-election-still-best-way-get-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3160379/flawed-legislative-council-election-still-best-way-get-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Dec 2021 06:45:20 +0000 For better or worse, the Legislative Council election has concluded. Now it is time to see what this new and improved system looks like. At first glance, it is first and foremost a system of new faces, of political novices, but will they be an improvement? Of course, it’s too early to tell at this point. New is good, I suppose, marking a fresh start and a clean slate. The absence of the traditional opposition has created a lot of opportunities in terms of seats needing to be filled, resulting in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3160091/new-and-improved-legislative-council-election-committee-members?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3160091/new-and-improved-legislative-council-election-committee-members?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Dec 2021 22:45:12 +0000 Hong Kong should be in the grip of election fever. The “improved” electoral system put in place by Beijing will ensure, we have been told, that the city can finally get done what the broken process before would not allow. But, even though voting for the Legislative Council election is just days away, I don’t feel excitement in the air. There aren’t any heated discussions on the streets or in the media of the virtues of the various candidates and whether the platform of one is better than the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3159402/even-lacklustre-legislative-council-election-huge-do-list-awaits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3159402/even-lacklustre-legislative-council-election-huge-do-list-awaits?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Dec 2021 22:45:22 +0000 What was the most memorable moment in Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s run for the city’s top job in 2017? When news crews caught her not knowing that she needed to push the turnstile at the MTR station exit after she had “doo”-ed her Octopus card over the reader, of course. There was also her being genuinely surprised that convenience stores do not sell toilet paper. But no matter how she tried to spin that Octopus moment, it was quintessential Lam: hopelessly out of touch. In an incredible... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3159224/hong-kongs-carrie-lam-should-take-legco-election-voter-turnout?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3159224/hong-kongs-carrie-lam-should-take-legco-election-voter-turnout?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Dec 2021 19:30:20 +0000 A recent survey found that 60 per cent of respondents were unaware of who was running for a directly elected seat in their constituency in the upcoming Legislative Council election. The survey also revealed a record low level of voter enthusiasm – something the Hong Kong government and Beijing’s liaison office should take to heart. Officials need to prepare themselves for a low voter turnout at the polls, scheduled for December 19. It makes sense. When some are barred from taking part, or when... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3157525/peoples-disconnection-legco-election-could-spell-trouble-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3157525/peoples-disconnection-legco-election-could-spell-trouble-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Nov 2021 02:15:21 +0000 In the last Legislative Council election in 2016, there were 289 valid nominations, out of which 213 candidates contested the 35 geographical constituency seats. Under the new and improved system, there are fewer valid nominations, but it doesn’t mean less competition. There are fewer people in the running for more lawmaker seats since Legco has been enlarged from 70 seats to 90. Candidates, however, are no longer running on what used to be long nomination lists in the geographical... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3155892/whos-standing-legco-too-few-women-too-many-old-boys?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3155892/whos-standing-legco-too-few-women-too-many-old-boys?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Nov 2021 22:45:26 +0000 The Legislative Council election feels a little surreal and we’re more than halfway into the nomination period, which ends this Friday. Only 15 applicants filed papers on the first day – less than half the number usually seen in previous Legco elections – and there are more seats up for grabs. Beijing would reportedly like to see competition, and is adamant about not having walkovers. It’s just that the competition shouldn’t get too fierce – at least, not in the open. But securing nominations is... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3154972/hong-kong-prepares-legco-polls-lesson-lead-water-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3154972/hong-kong-prepares-legco-polls-lesson-lead-water-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Nov 2021 22:45:19 +0000 The sixth Legislative Council has finally ended its extended term. There is no doubt that the remaining lawmakers, after all the disqualifications and resignations of the opposition, got to work in this final legislative year. They have passed 46 government bills, the most in a single year since the establishment of the special administrative region. And it was the first time since 2008 that the year ended with no lapsed bills. The Legco term should have ended in the summer of 2020, but the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3154192/why-legcos-new-found-efficiency-comes-high-price?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3154192/why-legcos-new-found-efficiency-comes-high-price?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Oct 2021 22:45:14 +0000 Enactment of the national security law, and implementation of the extensive political reform package, have raised some fundamental questions about future representation in the Legislative Council and how it will function. Much of the attention recently has been focused on the outcome of the Democratic Party’s special meeting late last month. In effect, the party made no decision on whether to field candidates in the December polls. Rather, it would be left to individual members to decide whether... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3150870/legcos-past-and-future-hong-kong-must-examine-what-both-camps-got?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3150870/legcos-past-and-future-hong-kong-must-examine-what-both-camps-got?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Oct 2021 06:30:14 +0000 The arrest of 53 people earlier this month in Hong Kong on suspicion of subversion has, once again, led to a frenzy of condemnation by Western leaders and the media. All those arrested have been released on police bail as investigations continue. These are likely to take some time. Most of the 53 are “pro-democrats” who sought to take part in the September 2020 Legislative Council elections (since postponed); the rest are organisers of an event known as the “35-plus” primaries which took place... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3119167/mass-arrests-sinister-aspect-democrats-35-plus-primaries-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3119167/mass-arrests-sinister-aspect-democrats-35-plus-primaries-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Jan 2021 03:30:16 +0000 The National People’s Congress Standing Committee has decided to extend the term of Hong Kong’s incumbent lawmakers for no less than a year, as a solution to the postponement of next month’s Legislative Council elections. However, it did not rule on the status of the four pro-democracy legislators who had been disqualified from seeking re-election. Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai said in a radio interview that the government hopes all serving lawmakers will... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3098109/legco-term-extension-poses-dilemma-opposition-lawmakers-they-must?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3098109/legco-term-extension-poses-dilemma-opposition-lawmakers-they-must?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Aug 2020 22:45:08 +0000 On July 31, the chief executive announced that the Legislative Council elections – scheduled for September 6 – would be postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, discussions have shifted to how to handle the “vacuum” in legislative business and whether the National People’s Congress Standing Committee should appoint all incumbent legislators to a “transitional” legislature or whether some should be disqualified. Such discussions are understandable, but they miss the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3096280/legco-elections-why-government-has-failed-make-case-extraordinary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3096280/legco-elections-why-government-has-failed-make-case-extraordinary?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Aug 2020 22:20:16 +0000