{"id":47159,"date":"2021-12-16T01:26:18","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T01:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=47159"},"modified":"2021-12-16T01:26:18","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T01:26:18","slug":"hong-kong-gears-up-for-patriots-only-poll-amid-boycott-calls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=47159","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong gears up for \u2018patriots-only\u2019 poll amid boycott calls"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With days remaining for Hong Kong\u2019s legislative elections, candidates are hitting the Chinese-controlled city\u2019s streets canvassing for last-minute votes. But residents say there is little enthusiasm to vote this time.<\/p>\n

One woman told Al Jazeera that many voters in Hong Kong see the December 19 poll as a \u201cselection\u201d and not an \u201celection\u201d. That is because electoral reforms<\/a> \u2013 introduced by Beijing earlier this year \u2013 mean that only candidates who passed the authorities\u2019 \u201cpatriots only\u201d<\/a> vetting process were allowed to run.<\/p>\n

Only three of the 153 candidates<\/a> contesting this year\u2019s election openly identify as pro-democracy, according to the South China Morning Post, marking a dramatic change in the semi-autonomous territory that was roiled by protests calling for greater democracy in 2014 and again, in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you see is people giving a very wide birth to candidates,\u201d said the resident, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one is taking a pamphlet. People see the candidates on the sidewalk and they cross the road, the same way they cross the road when they see a police station or the national security office.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally set for September of last year, the election for Hong Kong\u2019s legislative council was delayed for more than a year, with authorities citing concern over the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to postpone the vote followed a sweeping crackdown on dissent in China\u2019s freest city, with mass arrests and Beijing introducing a national security law<\/a> that criminalised subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison. That law has been used to pursue politicians, activists and even the media. Most of the city\u2019s pro-democracy politicians now are either in prison or in exile.<\/p>\n

Fishmongers work next to campaign posters on the wall at a market in Hong Kong on December 8, 2021, ahead of the city\u2019s legislative elections on December 19 [Peter Parks\/ AFP]<\/figure>\n

As Hong Kong\u2019s political freedoms all but disappeared, Beijing took aim at the city\u2019s parliament, known as the LegCo. The electoral changes have redrawn districts and cut down the number of candidates chosen directly by the public from 35 to 20.<\/p>\n

Another 30 seats will be chosen by voting blocs linked to professions, and 40 seats will be appointed by a committee headed by Hong Kong\u2019s pro-Beijing leader, Carrie Lam.<\/p>\n

Boycott calls<\/h2>\n

Amid the clampdown, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute found that only 52 percent of respondents<\/a> plan to vote, marking a 30-year low for the legislative elections. Many voters are expected to boycott the vote or spoil their ballot, although urging others to do so could lead to arrest.<\/p>\n

Six people have been arrested so far for urging others to boycott, according to local media, or simply reposting Facebook posts about a potential boycott. The government has also issued arrest warrants for former legislators Ted Hui and Yau Man-chun, who have called for a boycott of the vote from exile in the United Kingdom and Australia, respectively.<\/p>\n

Even so, many feel it is the only option they have left.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now the biggest discussion in Hong Kong is how do people mobilise in a climate where everything is predetermined and you don\u2019t have a meaningful opportunity to exercise your views; because there isn\u2019t any candidate who will speak to electoral reform, democracy or the principles of the Basic Law that we have been promised,\u201d the resident said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe discussion in Hong Kong right now is whether you don\u2019t vote, or whether you go and cast a blank ballot and which of these tactics is more meaningful, so to speak. Now there\u2019s different views obviously, but one way to think about it is authoritarian regimes everywhere like to legitimise themselves through performative democracy. You are giving them an opportunity [so they] can say a certain percentage of the public participated.\u201d<\/p>\n