Hong Kong pro-democracy parties make major gains in de facto protest referendum
Hong Kong (CNN)Pro-democracy candidates appear to have made major gains in Hong Kong's District Council elections, as early results trickled in Monday morning, with multiple high-profile pro-government figures losing their seats.
More than 2.9 million people turned out to vote in Sunday's elections, which have been framed as a de facto referendum on the almost six months of ongoing protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
Speaking
to CNN, Kenneth Chan, an expert on politics and governance at Hong Kong
Baptist University, said the more than 70% turnout -- higher than any
other election in the city's history -- "exceeded many predictions" and
demonstrated both Hong Kongers' commitment to democracy and that they
are "counting on this election to point a way out of this impasse."
Public broadcaster RTHK described
the results as a "rout" and a "staggering victory for the pro-democracy
camp," with the majority of the 18 district councils expected to flip
to pro-democratic control in an "unmistakable message" to the city's
leader Carrie Lam.
After weeks of
increasingly violent unrest, this weekend was remarkably calm, following
calls for protesters to avoid giving the government any excuse to call
off the elections or close polling stations early.
High profile losses
Outspoken
pro-government legislators Michael Tien and Junius Ho both conceded
defeat in their districts, according to public broadcaster RTHK and Ho's
official Facebook page.
Holden
Chow, Horace Cheung, Vincent Cheng, and Edward Lau also appeared to be
part of a string of upsets from the pro-Beijing DAB party, according to
RTHK, as votes continued to be counted.
One
of the conveners with the Civil Human Rights Fronts (CHRF), Jimmy Sham,
claimed a victory for the pro-democracy camp in his district of Sha
Tin. CHRF has organized some of the largest marches during Hong Kong's
nearly six months of civil unrest.
"Today's
result represents (my constituency's) support to protesters. The
government should immediately establish the Five Demands and respond to
the public's voices," he posted on Facebook, referencing a longstanding
protest slogan.
And in an
apparently narrow win for the pro-Beijing camps, lawmaker Starry Lee
secured her re-election against pro-democracy challenger Leung Kwok Hung
in Kowloon city district's To Kwa Wan North.
Supporters
of Leung Kwok Hung began chanting "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of
Our Time" after the local counting station tallied up the votes, with
Lee winning by just 300 votes.
De facto referendum
District
councils are elected on five-year terms, and largely handle local
affairs. They lack much in terms of real power, serving mainly to advise
the government on issues affecting their neighborhoods and the
allocation of funds for local projects.
The
vote has taken on an outsized importance in recent years, however, as a
way of signaling wider discontent about the slow pace of political
reform. Ahead of Sunday's vote, pro-Beijing parties controlled all 18
district councils, so any victory for the broader pro-democracy camp
will inevitably be cast as a win for protesters.
More
than 2.9 million people took part in Sunday's poll, with a turnout rate
of 71.2% -- a record high, based on the highest-ever amount of
registered-voters, according to Barnabus Fung, the chairman of the
Electoral Affairs Commission.
Polling
stations closed late on Sunday night. While election officials have
reported results after counting finished in some polling stations, no
complete tally has been uploaded by the official elections commission.
It is the first time that all 452 constituencies are being contested.
While
some candidates ran on fairly standard local council issues --
"eliminate illegal parking," "build an animal friendly community,"
"strengthen environmental conservation" -- a substantial minority,
around 13%, included the key protest phrase "five demands, not one less"
in their election material.
Those
five demands are: withdraw the extradition bill that kicked off the
entire crisis (since achieved); launch an independent inquiry into
allegations of police brutality; retract any categorization of a protest
on June 12 as a "riot"; amnesty for arrested protesters; and
introducing universal suffrage for how the Chief Executive and
Legislative Council are elected.
A
big loss for pro-government parties -- as appears to be on the cards --
could increase pressure on Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to come up with a
political solution to address at least some of those demands.