Biodun.BBC: ANALYSIS AND UPDATE: Hong Kong elections: Pro-democracy groups makes big gains

Sunday, November 24, 2019

ANALYSIS AND UPDATE: Hong Kong elections: Pro-democracy groups makes big gains

Supporters of local candidate Kelvin Lam celebrate, after it was announced he won the local council elections in his district — Image captionSupporters of a pro-democracy candidate celebrate as results in the district election were announced

by Coco Jiang and Biodun Iginla, BBC News Analysts, Hong Kong

Hong Kong's opposition pro-democracy movement has made major gains in the Chinese territory's district council elections, local media reports say.

It took 201 of the first 241 seats declared, according to the South China Morning Post newspaper. Pro-Beijing candidates took just 28.

More than 2.9m people voted, a turnout of more than 71%, against 47% in 2015.

The election was billed as a test of support for embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

Hong Kong's district councillors mainly deal with local issues such as bus routes and garbage collection - however, the polls were widely seen as a test of public opinion on the government's handling of five months of unrest and pro-democracy protests.

One controversial pro-Beijing lawmaker, who lost his seat, said "heaven and earth have been turned upside down".

A record 4.1 million people had registered to vote, or more than half the population of 7.4 million.

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Some notable names ran in the elections, including pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho, one of the most controversial politicians in the city, who suffered a shock defeat.

He was stabbed earlier this month by a man pretending to be a supporter. The lawmaker has openly voiced his support for Hong Kong's police force on multiple occasions. He was in July filmed shaking hands with a group of men - suspected of being triad gangsters - who later assaulted pro-democracy protesters.

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A pro-democracy supporter opens a bottle of champagne outside a polling station to celebrate after pro-Beijing candidate Junius Ho lost a seat — Image captionAs results were announced, pro-democracy supporters were in high spirits in Tuen Mun district

Jimmy Sham, a political activist who has recently risen to prominence as the leader of the Civil Human Rights Front - a campaign group responsible for organising some of the mass protest marches - won a seat after running for the first time.

Mr Sham has also been attacked twice, once apparently with hammers. Photographs at the time showed him lying on the street covered in blood.

Standing on crutches, Mr Sham told Reuters news agency on Sunday that the election was "special because it is a formal confrontation between pro-establishment and pro-democracy parties".

Media captionJoshua Wong says Beijing can't keep him down

Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was barred from running in the elections, a move he referred to as "political screening", but the pro-democracy candidate who replaced him is said to have won.

In a tweet, Mr Wong said the "historic" results showed that public opinion had not turned against the pro-democracy movement.

Reflecting on her reported defeat, pro-Beijing lawmaker Alice Mak suggested Ms Lam's administration was partly to blame.

"In the election campaign, pro-government candidates have been unfairly treated. This is a very important reason," she said.

Starry Lee Wai-king, chairwoman of the city's largest pro-Beijing party, was among the few establishment candidates to secure her seat.

"I think [Lee] is the only one who can survive the de facto referendum," said Leung Kwok-hung, her pro-democracy opponent in the poll.

'A wipeout beyond imagination'

Stephen McDonell, BBC China correspondent, in Hong Kong

Outside the Yau Ma Tei North polling station, local residents lined up to gain entry so they could watch the vote count. The doors opened and they poured into the public viewing area.

Six months into an ongoing political crisis, people have lost faith in government institutions. They wanted to make sure that this process was fair and transparent.

As they waited for the total in their own district council to be tallied, they could see the numbers coming in from elsewhere on their mobile phones.

By their facial expressions it was clear they couldn't believe what was unfolding, and people cheered in astonishment as one surprising result came in after another.

Nobody imagined such a comprehensive wipeout, and Carrie Lam's administration will no doubt come under renewed pressure to listen to the demands of protestors following such an overwhelming defeat for her and her allies.

More than 1,000 candidates ran for 452 district council seats which, for the first time, were all contested. A further 27 seats are allocated to representatives of rural districts.

Pro-Beijing parties held the majority of these seats ahead of the election.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks to the press after casting her vote during the district council elections in Hong Kong on November 24, 2019 — Image captionChief Executive Carrie Lam welcomed the "peaceful environment" for the vote

Police were seen outside some polling stations and on the streets during Sunday's vote but correspondents said they kept a low profile.

"Facing the extremely challenging situation, I'm pleased to say... we have a relatively calm and peaceful environment for [the] election today," Ms Lam said after voting.