Despite the devastating fire at a residential complex in Tai Po district that killed at least 159 people earlier this month, Hong Kong went to the polls on Sunday for elections to its parliament, the Legislative Council. The turnout figure was especially exciting: since China bent the rules of the game in the Hong Kong elections, candidates critical of Beijing’s authority have been excluded from participation and interest has dropped significantly.
In the first election under the new electoral law, in 2021, many Hong Kongers voted with their feet: only about 30 percent turned out, just over half the previous time. This year the enthusiasm was not much greater: despite many stimulating measures, the turnout now stood at 31.9 percent. In 2016, in the last election before Beijing amended the electoral law, more than 58 percent voted.
The authorities were very concerned about preventing a low turnout. The polls remained open extra long, until half past twelve in the evening. In the run-up to the polls, dozens of people were arrested because they had called for a boycott of the elections or to cast an invalid vote. Those who did vote received a thank you card at the polling station that could be exchanged for vouchers in various shops or a discount on cinema tickets.
“It feels a bit like bribery,” says one voter who calls himself Bond against the South China Morning Post. But he went to vote on Sunday anyway. Student Jackie Lam votes with conviction, she believes that is her civic duty. She finds policy for young people especially important.
Christopher Yu, another voter, told the newspaper that the election is just about setting a turnout record. “I need the thank you card to get half a day off from work.” Now he goes to the movies at a discount. “That is the only advantage of this entire election.”
No delay
It was uncertain last week whether the polls would even take place on the planned date. On November 26, a major fire broke out in seven residential towers that were being renovated at the time. At least 159 people were killed, and there was a lot of criticism of the authorities. They are said to have responded too laxly to residents’ concerns about fire safety. In addition, the disaster put a spotlight on broader abuses in the construction and housing sectors in densely populated Hong Kong.
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Although the campaign was halted, the city council decided to allow the elections to go ahead on Tuesday. “The election of ambitious representatives is an important step on the road to reconstruction,” said Hong Kong’s chief executive John Lee.
Moreover, Tu Haiming – a Hong Kong member of China’s top political advisory body CPPCC – wrote in a recent op-ed: Postponing the elections would leave an institutional vacuum that “could provide an opportunity for political agitators to carry out their disruptive maneuvers and thus endanger social stability.”
Memorial site
The fear of such unrest also means that spontaneous activities by citizens around the disaster site in Tai Po are increasingly restricted. On election day, the police patrolled the area around the flats en masse. Last week, volunteer aid workers were sent away and several people were arrested who had called for an investigation.
People gathered near flowers in a park near the housing complex where at least 159 people died in a fire; independent candidate Allan Wong greets supporters during the election.
Photos Maxim Shemetov/REUTERS; Lam Yik/Reuters
It was announced on Sunday that the memorial site near the burned down flats, where a large sea of flowers emerged, will be cleared that same evening. On an announcement on the spot read one reporter of the South China Morning Post that the commemoration “will be over at midnight,” and that “serious disruptions” will be reported to the police.
Andi Chan (74), a resident of the affected housing complex, believes that voting is important: “If we do not participate, we are neglecting our responsibility as citizens,” quotes the S.C.M.P her.
But 73-year-old Mr Law, who managed to escape the burning flats in time with his wife, did not go to the polls on Sunday. “I’m just not in the mood,” he told a reporter Hong Kong Free Press. “And to be honest, there aren’t that many people to choose from. I didn’t have high expectations for it anyway.”
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