Voters in Hong Kong are heading to the polls to elect new lawmakers under China\u2019s \u201cpatriots only\u201d rules, though government efforts to drive turnout have been overshadowed by anger over the city\u2019s handling of a major deadly fire.<\/p>\n
Polls opened early on Sunday across the autonomous Chinese city to select 90 legislators, though only 20 of those seats are directly elected.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n The election is only the second time since the city overhauled the electoral system to ensure that only those deemed \u201cpatriots\u201d can run for office.<\/p>\n Political campaigning for the polls was abruptly paused in late November, after a blaze tore through the housing blocks of Wang Fuk Court in northern Hong Kong, killing at least 159 people.<\/p>\n Al Jazeera\u2019s Laura Westbrook, reporting from Hong Kong, said \u201cthere had been some questions\u201d whether the voting should go ahead in light of the tragedy, believed to be the world\u2019s deadliest residential building fire since 1980.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Hong Kong\u2019s chief executive, John Lee, said the vote should go ahead, as a way to maintain stability, and that he needed the newly elected legislature to help push through reforms as well as ensure the recovery and reconstruction efforts can move ahead quickly,\u201d Westbrook said.<\/p>\n Lee had earlier announced a judge-led \u201cindependent committee\u201d to investigate the fire, which devastated seven apartment blocks that were undergoing renovations.<\/p>\n He has also urged the people of Hong Kong to take part in the polls, saying their ballots represented reform and support to the fire victims.<\/p>\n On Sunday, a sombre-looking Lee was seen casting his vote in the city.<\/p>\n As of this week, police have arrested 15 people from various construction companies on suspicion of manslaughter.<\/p>\n Police also reportedly arrested at least three people for sedition for making public criticism of the government in the wake of the fire.<\/p>\n Among those detained was 24-year-old student Miles Kwan, who handed out flyers calling for government accountability. Kwan was later reported to have been released.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, a university in the city also shut operations of its student union after messages were posted on campus expressing condolences and urging justice for the victims of the fire.<\/p>\n Legislative elections in Hong Kong used to entail boisterous clashes between pro-Beijing and pro-democracy camps, with the latter often winning about 60 percent of the popular vote.<\/p>\n But in 2020, Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law after the city was roiled by huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests. The first contest held under the new rules later that year saw a record low turnout of less than 30 percent.<\/p>\n Some pro-democracy lawmakers have been jailed, including as part of a subversion case that concluded last year, while others resigned or fled Hong Kong.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s race will once again be devoid of the two largest pro-democracy parties after the Civic Party disbanded in 2023 and the Democratic Party said it is winding down.<\/p>\n In a statement on Sunday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said China\u2019s \u201cattempts to present the legislature, known as the LegCo, as legitimate hardly fool anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA government that cannot tolerate genuine discussion and debate undermines its own legitimacy. The recent, devastating Tai Po fire, which has raised concerns of government negligence, shows that the lack of democratic institutions carries real costs\u2014in lives but also in effective governance,\u201d HRW Asia Director Elaine Pearson said.<\/p>\n Before the fire, authorities had blanketed much of the city in promotional material and extended the operating hours of polling stations.<\/p>\n About a third of the outgoing cohort of lawmakers, including veterans such as Regina Ip and legislature president Andrew Leung, are not seeking another term.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Voters in Hong Kong are heading to the polls to elect new lawmakers under China\u2019s \u201cpatriots only\u201d rules, though government efforts to drive turnout have been overshadowed by anger over the city\u2019s handling of a major deadly fire. Polls opened early on Sunday across the autonomous Chinese city to select 90 legislators, though only 20 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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