The upcoming District Council Ordinary Election in Hong Kong is expected to offer millions of protesters in Hong Kong an opportunity to take advantage of the local election to continue their fight for improved civil liberties
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2019) The upcoming District Council Ordinary Election in Hong Kong is expected to offer millions of protesters in Hong Kong an opportunity to take advantage of the local election to continue their fight for improved civil liberties."The 2019 District Council Ordinary Election will be held this Sunday (November 24). A total of 615 ordinary polling stations and 23 dedicated polling stations across Hong Kong will be open on polling day for about 4.13 million registered electors to cast their votes. A total of 1 090 candidates will compete for 452 seats," the local government in Hong Kong said in a statement on Friday.
The massive protests began in Hong Kong in June over a controversial extradition bill, which was officially withdrawn in October. Frustrated with the local authorities' heavy-handed responses to the protests, the demonstrators expanded their demands to add an independent investigation into alleged police brutality and greater civil liberties, including universal suffrage.
Meanwhile, Beijing has repeatedly reiterated that the situation in Hong Kong is a direct result of foreign interference in China's domestic affairs and expressed full support for the local authorities' actions.
Following the tragic death of a university student in Hong Kong in early November, the protests turned much more violent in recent weeks when young students clashed with the police on various university campuses in the city. The protesters hurled petrol bombs, bricks and even shot arrows at the police, who responded by firing thousands of rounds of tear gas canisters and powerful water cannons. Hundreds of protesters, most of whom are young university students, have been arrested by the police.
Amid rising violence during protests in recent weeks, the Hong Kong residents who joined earlier peaceful protests called on others to halt the violent acts and express their grievances by supporting the pro-democracy candidates in the upcoming local election.
Telegram channels specializing in publishing plans for future protests have sent out detailed instructions to help voters identify the candidates who are in support of the pro-democracy movement. Instead of arranging new protests on Nov 24, the published action plan for the protesters on that day is to vote for the candidates who support the ongoing movement.
At the same time, Hong Kongers are who against the protests have also tried to rally fellow supporters of the government to vote for pro-establishment candidates in the upcoming election. Telegram channels operated by pro-establishment supporters have issued instructions on how to avoid harassment from protesters on election day by pretending to support the protests when entering the polling stations.
Political analysts told Sputnik that the upcoming district council election in Hong Kong could offer the protesters a good opportunity to continue their struggle through the existing political system in the city.
"A new direction for the pro-democracy movement to move forward is for the supporters to focus on elections and building political parties. It depends on whether the pro-democracy supporters can unite together. It's a new test for the pro-democracy politicians, celebrities and activists on whether they can complete this transition successfully," Wu Qiang, a former politics professor at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University, told Sputnik.
The scholar suggested that sweeping victories for the pro-democracy candidates in the upcoming district council election could encourage protesters to move toward addressing their grievances through political means rather than continuing to escalate violence.
"I believe the pro-democracy candidates will win by a landslide, which could encourage the protesters to move from street politics to party politics by taking part in elections and building political parties. I think the existing political system in Hong Kong offers enough room for the protesters to voice their concerns," he said.
Nevertheless, the expert noted that more reforms would be needed for the pro-democracy supporters to have a stronger voice in local politics in Hong Kong because local residents still couldn't vote for the city's chief executive directly.
