2016 Hong Kong legislative election: Difference between revisions
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As the opinion polls showed he was losing, on 27 August a week before the election day,radical localist incumbent legislator [[Wong Yuk-man]] who offered support to pro-independence [[Hong Kong Indigenous]]' [[Edward Leung]] in the February [[New Territories East by-election, 2016|New Territories East by-election]] shot fire at Leung for helping Yau Wai-ching of the localist group Youngspiration in Kowloon West where that he was also contesting. Wong questions Leung’s political ethics for not helping [[Civic Passion]]'s [[Alvin Cheng]] in Hong Kong Island and declares: "[You] have turned into a political trickster before becoming a lawmaker." Leung dismissed the conflict as a "misunderstanding", saying he had already suggested offering help to Cheng.<ref name="parents">{{cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2010326/election-notebook-party-fledglings-who-still-need-support|title=Election Notebook: the party fledglings who still need the support of ‘parents’|newspaper=South China Morning Post|date=26 August 2016|first=Jeffie|last=Lam}}</ref> |
As the opinion polls showed he was losing, on 27 August a week before the election day,radical localist incumbent legislator [[Wong Yuk-man]] who offered support to pro-independence [[Hong Kong Indigenous]]' [[Edward Leung]] in the February [[New Territories East by-election, 2016|New Territories East by-election]] shot fire at Leung for helping Yau Wai-ching of the localist group Youngspiration in Kowloon West where that he was also contesting. Wong questions Leung’s political ethics for not helping [[Civic Passion]]'s [[Alvin Cheng]] in Hong Kong Island and declares: "[You] have turned into a political trickster before becoming a lawmaker." Leung dismissed the conflict as a "misunderstanding", saying he had already suggested offering help to Cheng.<ref name="parents">{{cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2010326/election-notebook-party-fledglings-who-still-need-support|title=Election Notebook: the party fledglings who still need the support of ‘parents’|newspaper=South China Morning Post|date=26 August 2016|first=Jeffie|last=Lam}}</ref> |
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On 2 September |
On 2 September less than 48 hours before the election day and after the release of the large-scale opinion poll conducted by [[University of Hong Kong]] Public Opinion Programme (HKUPOP) and sponsored by pro-democracy group [[Power for Democracy]], five pro-democrat candidates, independents [[Paulus Johannes Zimmerman|Paul Zimmerman]] and [[Chui Chi-kin]] in Hong Kong Island, Labour Party's [[Suzanne Wu]] in Kowloon East and Civic Party's Sumly Chan and [[Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood]]'s (ADPL) Kalvin Ho Kai-ming in District Council (Second), suspended their campaigns in the hope of deflecting support to fellow pan-democrats who were seen as standing a better chance.<ref>{{cite news|title=Five pan-democrats throw in the towel ahead of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council elections|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2013093/five-pan-democrats-throw-towel-ahead-hong-kongs-legislative|newspaper=South China Morning Post|date=2 September 2016|first=Stuart|last=Lau}}</ref> Clarice Cheung Wai-ching, a non-aligned independent also abandoned her campaign in New Territories West and called her supporters to vote for pan-democratic candidates. On 3 September, the third pro-democratic District Council (Second) candidate Kwan Wing-yip also aborted his campaign after he refused to do that one day ago.<ref>{{cite news|title=Opponents allege collusion after pan-democrat candidates abandon Hong Kong Legco runs|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2013900/opponents-allege-collusion-after-pan-democrat-candidates|newspaper=South China Morning Post|date=3 September 2016|first1=Stuart|last1=Lau|first2=Danny|last2=Lee}}</ref> |
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==Opinion polling== |
==Opinion polling== |
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The 2016 Hong Kong Legislative Council election will be held on 4 September 2016 for the 6th Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo). A total of 70 members, 35 from geographical constituencies (GCs) and 35 from functional constituencies (FCs), will be returned. The election comes after the rejection of the constitutional reform proposals which suggested the electoral method for the 2016 Legislative Council remains unchanged.
The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) sparked controversy as it disqualified six of the potential localist candidates from running in the election as it claimed their pro-independence stances did not comply with the Basic Law of Hong Kong.
Background
Electoral reform failure and Umbrella Revolution
The election comes after the rejection of constitutional reform proposals of the Leung Chun-ying administration in mid-2015 which suggested the electoral method for the Legislative Council (LegCo) in 2016 be unchanged.[1] On 31 August 2014, the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) set limits for the 2016 Legislative Council and 2017 Chief Executive elections. While reaffirming the electoral method for the 2016 Legislative Council election remained unchanged, the NPCSC decision allowed the Chief Executive (CE) to be directly elected but "unpatriotic" candidates would have to be screened out by a Beijing-controlled nominating committee.[2] In response to the NPCSC decision, the student activists staged a class boycott which led into a months-long large-scale occupy movement as proposed by the Occupy Central, which was referred as the "Umbrella Revolution".[3][4]
The government proposals were overwhelmingly rejected in the Legislative Council following a failed walk-out by the pro-Beijing camp on 18 June 2015. In response, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying urged the voters to "punish" the opposition democratic candidates by voting them out in the upcoming legislative election.[5]
ThunderGo plan
In early 2016, Occupy Central co-founder Benny Tai, who was inspired by the electoral victory the Democratic Progressive Party received in the 2016 Taiwanese legislative election, mapped out a "ThunderGo plan" for pan-democrats to grab half of the seats in the Legislative Council election to have much stronger bargaining power in future political reform. He suggests the non-pro-Beijing camp to field no more than 23 lists if their goal is to win 23 seats in the geographical constituencies, six tickets for nine-seat New Territories West and New Territories East, four tickets for six-seat Hong Kong Island and Kowloon West, and three for five-seat Kowloon East respectively.[6] For the functional constituencies, Tai suggested that besides retaining the current six trade-based functional constituencies and three territory-wide directly elected District Council (Second) super seats, the camp needs to target three additional seats in Medical, Engineering and Architectural, Surveying, Planning and Landscape.[6] The plan met with reservations from the very diverse interests within pro-democracy political parties, who could not agree on a united front. Tai's plan hit its setback when the Neo Democrats decided not to support the proposed coordinating mechanism for the District Council (Second) super seats in May.[6][7]
Emergence of new political forces
The emergence of new political groups led by young activists began to influence the political landscape: Edward Leung of Hong Kong Indigenous, a pro-independence localist group, received a better-than expected result in the New Territories East by-election in February 2016 by taking more than 66,000 votes and gaining about 15 percent of the total votes. After the election, Leung claimed localism had gained a foothold as the third most important power in local politics, standing side by side with the pan-democracy and pro-Beijing camps.[8] A day after the election, three localist groups, Wong Yuk-man's Proletariat Political Institute, Wong Yeung-tat's Civic Passion and Chin Wan's Hong Kong Resurgence Order, announced to run in the upcoming election.[9]
On 10 April 2016. six localist groups which emerged after the 2014 Umbrella Revolution, Youngspiration, Kowloon East Community, Tin Shui Wai New Force, Cheung Sha Wan Community Establishment Power, Tsz Wan Shan Constructive Power and Tuen Mun Community, formed an electoral alliance under the name "ALLinHK" planned to field candidates in four of the five geographical constituencies with the agenda to put forward a referendum on Hong Kong's self-determination,[10] while Hong Kong Indigenous and another new pro-independence Hong Kong National Party also stated that they will run in the upcoming election.
Also on 10 April 2016, the student leaders in the Umbrella Revolution, Joshua Wong, Oscar Lai and Agnes Chow of Scholarism and Nathan Law of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) formed a new party called Demosistō.[11] The new party calls for referendum on Hong Kong's future after 2047 when the one country, two systems is supposed to expire.[12] and aimed to field candidates in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon East.
Ronny Tong's Path of Democracy and Tik Chi-yuen's Third Side, the two new political groups which split from the Civic Party and Democratic Party respectively, seek a middle path between the pro-Beijing camp and pan-democracy camp on achieving democracy, with plans to field candidates in the geographical constituency election.
The soaring number of political groups and candidates may split the pro-democracy votes, according to political scientist Professor Ma Ngok.[13]
Pre-election issues
Leung Chun-ying's re-election
The pan-democracy camp has campaigned to block Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, whose popularity dropped to a new low, from serving a second term. Technology and media entrepreneur Ricky Wong Wai-kay, whose Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV) free-to-air television licence was denied by Leung's Executive Council in October 2013 and sparked public uproar and protests, also started his "ABC campaign" (Anyone but CY) by announcing Leung's exit as his key campaign platform.[14] Wong is backed by the Liberal Party, a pro-Beijing party representing the business sector which has been at odds with the Chief Executive since the 2012 Chief Executive election when the Liberals openly opposed Leung.
On 28 July, President of the Legislative Council Jasper Tsang and Financial Secretary John Tsang both expressed interest in running for the Chief Executive in 2017 in different occasions. Political analysts said that the duo's moves would take some pressure off pro-Beijing camp preparing for the Legislative Council election as pro-Beijing candidates had struggled when asked in public if they supported Leung's re-election.[15]
Causeway Bay bookseller disappearances
Lam Wing-kee, one of the five Causeway Bay booksellers who went missing from October 2015 returned to Hong Kong and revealed at a press conference in June 2016 that he was kidnapped at the China–Hong Kong border in October and put through eight months of mental torture. The controversy sparked concerns about whether mainland law enforcement officers were taking the law into their own hands in Hong Kong and became a blow to Hongkongers' confidence in the "one country, two systems". Professor Lau Siu-kai, former head of the Hong Kong government's think tank, the Central Policy Unit, worried that more people may vote for pan-democracy camp in September's election.[16]
Resignations of ICAC heads controversy
In July, acting head of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Rebecca Li Bo-lan resigned after she was removed from her position by ICAC commissioner Simon Peh Yun-lu, less than a year after he appointed her. The rare move amid speculation that Li was removed over an investigation into Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's receipt of HK$50 million from Australian firm UGL Limited.[17] Less than a week later, long-serving ICAC principal investigator Dale Ko also resigned without any meaningful official explanation. The controversy sparked calls for a special Legislative Council investigation and raised fears about the reputation of the anti-corruption body.[18]
Ban on pro-independence candidates controversy
On 14 July 2016, the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) announced its plan to require all candidates to sign an additional "confirmation form" in the nomination to declare their understanding of Hong Kong being an inalienable part of China as stipulated in the Basic Law, in response to many potential localist candidates advocating or promoting Hong Kong independence. The EAC states that anyone making a false declaration in the nomination form is liable to criminal sanction.[19]
EAC returning officers also sent emails to several applicants who had not been confirmed as official candidates, including Hong Kong Indigenous' Edward Leung, Civic Passion's Alvin Cheng, Hong Kong National Party's Chan Ho-tin, to ask whether they would still advocate independence after submitting the nomination form.[20] Those questions were claimed to be a factor to determine the validity of their nominations.
After the end of the nomination period, six localist candidates received emails from the EAC which said their nominations were "invalidated", which included Chan Ho-tin, Democratic Progressive Party's Yeung Ke-cheong, Nationalist Hong Kong's Nakade Hitsujiko, Conservative Party's Alice Lai Yee-man, Hong Kong Indigenous' Edward Leung and independent Chan Kwok-keung, although many of them had signed the additional confirmation form; all except Yeung had signed the declaration statement in the nomination form saying they will "uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the Hong Kong SAR" as required by the Legislative Council Ordinance. New Territories East constituency returning officer Cora Ho Lai-sheung rejected Leung's nomination on the basis that she did not trust Leung "genuinely changed his previous stance for independence."[21][22]
Approval for promotional leaflets controversy
The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) was also accused of withholding approval for promotional leaflets with a number of pro-democracy candidates, including those of Democracy Groundwork's Lau Siu-lai, Demosistō's Nathan Law, pro-demcoracy activist Chu Hoi-dick, which contain words such as "self-determination" and "civil referendum". Lau accused the EAC of "engaging in political screening" and "picking on certain candidates."[23] A new version of Law's pamphlets was approved on Wednesday after the party replaced the phrases in question with icons such as the sun, moon and stars. The revised pamphlets was added with words stating the content was subject to "universe-scale political censorship".[24]
Contesting parties and candidates
A historic record of 289 validly nominated candidates contested in the election, two more than the previous election, after seven candidates were disqualified, six of whom due to their pro-independence stance, and two withdrew their candidatures. 84 lists with a total of 213 candidates contested the 35 geographical constituencies, while 55 candidates contested in the traditional functional constituencies, 43 of them ran for 18 seats in the functional constituencies. A total of 21 candidates belonging to 9 lists contested the five "super seats" in the District Council (Second) functional constituency.[25]
Pro-Beijing camp
- Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB): The flagship Beijing-loyalist party fielded nine candidate lists in the geographical constituencies and District Council (Second) direct elections, two fewer than the 2012 election. Four veterans including the Legislative Council President Jasper Tsang and former party chairman Tam Yiu-chung stepped down from the office, while new faces Cheung Kwok-kwan and Wilson Or took up the candidacies in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon East.[26] North District Councillor Lau Kwok-fan won a four-way intra-party primary to take up Ip Kwok-him's District Council (First) functional constituency.[27][28] Incumbent Hong Kong Island legislator Christopher Chung who initially led a candidate list but was withdrawn by the party later protested against the party's decision, but later on accepted to be placed second on Cheung's list.[29][30]
- Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA): Six of the seven legislators from the pro-business party sought for re-election. The party honorary chairman Lau Wong-fat retired from the Heung Yee Kuk and was succeeded by his son Kenneth Lau uncontestedly, while party chairman Andrew Leung and Abraham Shek were also re-elected uncontestedly in their trade-based constituencies. The party's sole geographical constituency legislator Priscilla Leung sought for her third term in Kowloon West.[31]
- Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU): The pro-labour federation rose as the third largest party in the last election in 2012. The FTU remained its five tickets in four geographical constituencies and District Council (Second) "super seat", as well as two candidates in the three-seat Labour functional constituency. Veteran Chan Yuen-han stepped down from the "super seat" and was taken up by Wong Kwok-hing, while Wong's Hong Kong Island seat was taken up by Kwok Wai-keung from the Labour functional constituency.[32]
- Liberal Party: The pro-business party has been vocal for its criticism against the Leung Chun-ying administration and positioned itself as the anti-Leung voice within in the pro-establishment camp. The party honorary chairman James Tien initially planned to stand in Hong Kong Island but later stood in New Territories East as the second place with the party's rising star Dominic Lee. The party finalised its target of winning seven seats, two geographical constituencies and five functional constituencies. Incumbents Felix Chung, Tommy Cheung and Frankie Yick sought for re-election in their sectors while vice-chairman Peter Shiu to take up retiring leader Vincent Fang's place in Wholesale and Retail constituency and Joseph Chan Ho-lim to run in Commercial (First) functional constituency against BPA's Jeffrey Lam.[33]
- New People's Party (NPP): Regina Ip's party planned to field candidates with herself and Michael Tien seeking re-election in Hong Kong Island and New Territories West and young barrister Eunice Yung running in New Territories East with the help of its local ally, district-based Civil Force.[34]
Pan-democracy camp
- Civic Party: The Civic Party became the largest pro-democracy party along with the Democratic Party from the last election. The party received 17 nominations for the intra-party primary in January. Four incumbents, Claudia Mo, Kwok Ka-ki, Alvin Yeung and Dennis Kwok would seek re-election while party leader Alan Leong and Kenneth Chan decided to step down.[35] The party decided to field Jeremy Tam in Kowloon East where Leong would stand in Tam's list in the second place and Tanya Chan would contest Hong Kong Island.[36] Tsuen Wan District Councillor Sumly Chan also won the party's nomination to run in District Council (Second). Ken Tsang, who failed to get the party's nomination for running in Social Welfare left the party and ran as an independent.
- Democratic Party: The Democratic Party decided to drastically reduce their candidate list from ten tickets to only seven in the upcoming election by conducting intra-party pre-election primaries for the candidacies.[37] A total number of 14 nominations were received with veterans Emily Lau, Albert Ho and Sin Chung-kai not standing for re-election. The three retirees later decided to run as second candidates in the tickets led by new faces Lam Cheuk-ting, Andrew Wan and Hui Chi-fung who won the primaries.[38] The three other incumbents, James To, Helena Wong and Wu Chi-wai would also seek re-election, while young Yuen Long District Councillor Kwong Chun-yu led a ticket in District Council (Second) "super seat".[39]
- Labour Party: All three of the directly elected Labour incumbents, Lee Cheuk-yan, Cyd Ho and Fernando Cheung sought re-election in New Territories West, Hong Kong Island and New Territories East respectively, while the Social Welfare legislator Cheung Kwok-che announced his retirement. The newly elected chairwoman Suzanne Wu and vice-chairman Chiu Shi-shun also stood in Kowloon East.[40]
- People Power–League of Social Democrats (PP–LSD): Facing challenges from the emerging radical post-Occupy groups, the League of Social Democrats (LSD) and the People Power formed an electoral alliance in the name of "progressive democrats". The alliance fielded nine candidates aiming to win at least six seats, New Territories East incumbents Leung Kwok-hung and Raymond Chan sought re-election with two separate tickets, while League chairman Avery Ng and People Power former chairman Christopher Lau and chairwoman Erica Yuen ran in Kowloon West and Hong Kong Island respectively. People Power's Tam Tak-chi ran in Kowloon East, while League vice-chairman Raphael Wong formed a join ticket with People Power's Albert Chan in New Territories West.[41][42][43]
- Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL): Although being barred from running in the District Council (Second) constituency after he lost his District Council seat in the 2015 District Council election, incumbent legislator Frederick Fung changed to run in the New Territories West geographical constituency. 2012 Kowloon West candidate and vice-chairman Tam Kwok-kiu narrowly defeated chairwoman Rosanda Mok in a primary to stand in the same constituency, while Sham Shui Po District Councillor Ho Kai-ming took up Fung's place in District Council (Second).[44]
- Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre (NWSC): The veteran NWSC legislator Leung Yiu-chung left his longtime base of New Territories West to contest in District Council (Second) constituency, while his place in New Territories West was succeeded by his long-time protege Wong Yun-tat.
- Neo Democrats: Once vowed not to participate in the District Council (Second) constituency created under the Democratic Party's modified reform proposals in 2010 which the Neo Democrats broke away from the party to oppose, the Neo Democrats fielded Kwan Wing-yip in District Council (Second), besides its current seat held by Gary Fan in New Territories East.[43]
- Demosistō: The new party emerged from the 2014 Umbrella Revolution led by the movement leaders planned to field two tickets in Hong Kong Island led by chairman Nathan Law and Kowloon East by vice-chairman Oscar Lai, but Lai later dropped out due to lack of funding.[12] Its allies in the election were Democracy Groundwork's Lau Siu-lai in Kowloon West and Land Justice League's Eddie Chu in the New Territories West who ran as a nonpartisan.
Localist groups
- Civic Passion–Proletariat Political Institute–Hong Kong Resurgence Order (CP–PPI–HKRO): Wong Yeung-tat's Civic Passion, Wong Yuk-man's Proletariat Political Institute and Chin Wan's Hong Kong Resurgence Order announced their plan in running in all five geographical constituencies in February 2016. The alliance fielded Wong Yuk-man and Wong Yeung-tat for the two Kowloon constituencies, Chin Wan for New Territories East, Cheng Chung-tai for New Territories West and Alvin Cheng for Hong Kong Island.[9] Despite their localist stance, all five tickets were validated under the EAC's new election measure.
- ALLinHK and Hong Kong Indigenous: An electoral alliance formed by six post-Occupy groups emerged from the 2014 protests, consisting of Youngspiration, Kowloon East Community, Tin Shui Wai New Force, Cheung Sha Wan Community Establishment Power, Tsz Wan Shan Constructive Power and Tuen Mun Community, field candidates in four of the five constituencies while supporting Hong Kong Indigenous' Edward Leung who received a better-than-expected result in the February by-election to run again.[10][45] Youngspiration's convenor Baggio Leung who initially intended to run in Hong Kong Island and stood in New Territories West finally submitted his nomination to stand in New Territories East in the wake of the EAC's measure, which he claimed to be a "substitute candidate" in case Edward Leung was disqualified in the constituency.[46] Although nominations of all candidates from the alliance's were accepted, Edward Leung's nomination was invalidated on 2 August.
- Hong Kong National Party (HKNP): Convenor Chan Ho-tin of the first party who officially advocated for Hong Kong independence planned to run in New Territories West but was disqualified, as the EAC claimed that Chan's platform violated the Basic Law.[47]
Others
- Path of Democracy: The group led by former Civic Party legislator Ronny Tong fielded two candidates, governors Gary Wong Chi-him and Raymond Mak Ka-chun in Hong Kong Island and New Territories East.[48][49]
- Third Side: The new "middle-of-the-road" party led by former Democratic Party vice-chairman Tik Chi-yuen planned to field candidates in Kowloon West and two New Territories constituencies, but later dropped out of the New Territories East contest and triggered the departure of ten party member including two vice-chairmen Marcus Liu Tin-shing and Ben Kuen Ping-yiu.[50][51][52] Liu and Kuen later led an independent ticket in New Territories East; another party member Wong Sing-chi decided to run in Social Welfare as an independent.
Retiring incumbents
Campaign
Election strategies
Many political parties and groups and individuals formed strategic alliances in the campaign. Alvin Yeung of the Civic Party who led in the opinion polls in the New Territories East cooperated with Labour Party's Fernando Cheung who traced behind in the polls. Leung Yiu-chung of the Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre (NWSC) who ran in the territory-wide District Council (Second) "super seat" also had joint-promotional leaflets with Lau Siu-lai of Democracy Groundwork in Kowloon West. Liberal Party honorary chairman James Tien who was running in the New Territories East and "middle-of-the-road" politician Ricky Wong Wai-kay who aimed at the last seat in Hong Kong Island also went out of their constituencies and campaigned for each other. James Tien also campaigned for the "middle-of-the-road" party Third Side's Tik Chi-yuen who aimed at the last seat in Kowloon West against Yau Wai-ching of the localist political group Youngspiration.[53] On 15 August, it was reported that volunteers and staff from Kowloon West New Dynamic chaired by pro-Beijing politician Priscilla Leung helped Tik arrange a meet-the-public event in Sham Shui Po.[54]
In the District Council (Second) constituency, the Democratic Party also asked the supporters of veteran James To who led in the polls to vote for another Democrat candidate Roy Kwong who was fighting for the last seat against Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) candidate Holden Chow.[55] The Democratic Party invited former Chief Secretary Anson Chan to back Kwong, who also endorsed Civic Party's Sumly Chan who ran in the same constituency.[56]
In late August, the pro-Beijing parties also began to campaign for each other. DAB District Council (Second) candidate Holden Chow campaigned for New People's Party (NPP) New Territories East candidate Eunice Yung who was behind in the opinion polls, in exchange for the 24 NPP New Territories district councillors to campaign for Chow. Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) District Council (Second) candidate Wong Kwok-hing also campaigned with Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) Kowloon West candidate Priscilla Leung, the only constituency where the FTU did not field their candidate.[57]
Issues and election forums
Issues including Hong Kong independence, filibustering, universal retirement protection scheme, standard working hours and Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's administration and re-election took central stage at the election forums. Pro-Beijing candidates questioned pan-democratic parties' stance on Hong Kong independence, while localist Kowloon East Community's Chan Chak-to declared his support for independence at the TVB Kowloon East electoral forum despite six pro-independence candidates had been disqualified. Localist candidates exchanged criticisms with the pan-democrats as the pan-democratic candidates dismissed localists' pro-independence call as empty talk.[58]
The pro-Beijing candidates also accused the pan-democrats of their filibustering and obstructionism in the Legislative Council, while pan-democratic candidates attacked the pro-Beijing candidates did not push for a more progressive universal retirement protection scheme and standard working hours policies. The pan-democrats also criticised the pro-Beijing camp being allies of the Leung Chun-ying government and opposed to use Powers and Privileges Ordinance to investigate into Leung's receipt of HK$50 million from UGL Limited and resignations of ICAC heads.
Ken Chow's "threats" claim
On 25 August, Liberal Party’s Ken Chow Wing-kan who ran for New Territories West announced he would stop his electioneering at the Cable TV election forum for fear of "people close to him paying a heavy price". He earlier revealed that he was approached by a middleman to quit the race for a hefty sum of money.[59] Chow passed a voice clip to the media before the election forum, in which a man claimed he would bring 20 to 30 Ho supporters to "pursue" Chow before and after the forum so that he would "lose mood" for the debate. The man in the clip also said the supporters should wear another candidate Lawyer Junius Ho’s vests during the forum.[60] Ho denied having any plans to intimidate Chow and claimed he had rejected one of his supporters' proposal to “pursue” Chow.[61]
Late development
As the opinion polls showed he was losing, on 27 August a week before the election day,radical localist incumbent legislator Wong Yuk-man who offered support to pro-independence Hong Kong Indigenous' Edward Leung in the February New Territories East by-election shot fire at Leung for helping Yau Wai-ching of the localist group Youngspiration in Kowloon West where that he was also contesting. Wong questions Leung’s political ethics for not helping Civic Passion's Alvin Cheng in Hong Kong Island and declares: "[You] have turned into a political trickster before becoming a lawmaker." Leung dismissed the conflict as a "misunderstanding", saying he had already suggested offering help to Cheng.[56]
On 2 September less than 48 hours before the election day and after the release of the large-scale opinion poll conducted by University of Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme (HKUPOP) and sponsored by pro-democracy group Power for Democracy, five pro-democrat candidates, independents Paul Zimmerman and Chui Chi-kin in Hong Kong Island, Labour Party's Suzanne Wu in Kowloon East and Civic Party's Sumly Chan and Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood's (ADPL) Kalvin Ho Kai-ming in District Council (Second), suspended their campaigns in the hope of deflecting support to fellow pan-democrats who were seen as standing a better chance.[62] Clarice Cheung Wai-ching, a non-aligned independent also abandoned her campaign in New Territories West and called her supporters to vote for pan-democratic candidates. On 3 September, the third pro-democratic District Council (Second) candidate Kwan Wing-yip also aborted his campaign after he refused to do that one day ago.[63]
Opinion polling
The reliability of the rolling poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme (HKUPOP) was widely questioned. The sample size of the poll, fewer than 300 respondents in each of the five geographical constituencies each day, was criticised of being too small. Additionally, pollsters only mentioned the first candidate on the list during interviews which could have made a difference in the results, as many veterans, including Democrats Sin Chung-kai, Albert Ho and Emily Lau, Liberal James Tien, Civic Party's Alan Leong, and People Power Albert Chan, stood in the second place behind the new faces on their party lists while their lists continued to trail behind in the polls.[55] After the complaints, the HKUPOP decided to mention two candidates on the candidate list to respondents from 22 August night onwards.[64]
Results
Template:Hong Kong legislative election, 2016
Candidate lists and results
The nominations received and validated by the Electoral Affairs Commission listed as following:[65] Template:Hong Kong legislative election, 2016 comprehensive
See also
References
- ^ The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (2013). Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive in 2017 and for Forming the Legislative Council in 2016 Consultation Document (PDF). p. 3.
{{cite book}}
: Invalid|ref=harv
(help) - ^ "Full text of NPC decision on universal suffrage for HKSAR chief selection". Xinhua News Agency. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ "'Snitch line' in operation against school boycotters in H.K." GlobalPost. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- ^ "Hong Kong Students to Boycott Classes If Democracy Demands Aren't Met". The Wall Street Journal. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - ^ Ong, Larry (25 March 2015). "Hong Kong's Leader Calls on Voters to Oust the Opposition". Epoch Times.
- ^ a b c Ng, Joyce (4 February 2016). "Thunderbolt plan: Benny Tai devises proposal for Hong Kong pan-democrats to win half of legislative seats in September poll". South China Morning Post.
- ^ Mok, Danny (3 May 2016). "Will 'Thunderbolt Plan' fizzle? NeoDemocrats won't join proposed pan-dem primary aimed at securing Legco 'super seats'". South China Morning Post.
- ^ Chung, Kang-chung (2 March 2016). "All Around Town: So which Hong Kong politician keeps gunning for losing candidate?". South China Morning Post.
- ^ a b "本土組織將派5人出選立會 陳雲或出戰新界東". Apple Daily. 29 February 2016.
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- ^ Lam, Jeffie; Ng, Joyce (26 August 2016). "Election bombshell: threats and attempted bribery alleged as Hong Kong's New Territories West Legco candidate drops out of poll race". South China Morning Post.
- ^ Ng, Joyce (26 August 2016). "Legco contender Junius Ho distances himself from supporters' plans to 'pursue' rival, claims he was smeared". South China Morning Post.
- ^ Ng, Joyce; Fung, Owen (26 August 2016). "Hong Kong's Legco candidate Ken Chow urged to come clean on 'threats'". South China Morning Post.
- ^ Lau, Stuart (2 September 2016). "Five pan-democrats throw in the towel ahead of Hong Kong's Legislative Council elections". South China Morning Post.
- ^ Lau, Stuart; Lee, Danny (3 September 2016). "Opponents allege collusion after pan-democrat candidates abandon Hong Kong Legco runs". South China Morning Post.
- ^ Lam, Jeffie; Ng, Joyce (22 August 2016). "Hong Kong election pollsters in U-turn on methodology after complaints by parties". South China Morning Post.
- ^ "Nomination of Candidates". Electoral Affairs Commission.
External links
Official websites
- 2016 Legislative Council election official website
- Electoral Affairs Commission
- Legislative Council of Hong Kong