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September 13, 2004

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HK Elections

Finally the HK elections have been run and won. The Democrats didn't do as well as they expected and Beijing's charm offensive paid off. The regular bunch were returned, in other words. The media are emphasing the record turnout, 1.7 million voters or just over 50% of those eligible. There was a ballot box stuff-up that will raise hackles but was actually harmless. But it will give the democratic purists something to grumble about, so everyone's happy.

It seems everyone is missing the major issue. A total of 1.7 million voted, or only 53% of those eligible. The barest majority of HK voters could be bothered to exercise their rights. The rest, either deliberately or through apathy, expressed their feelings about LegCo in the best way possible: by staying away. It is not a solid endorsement of the new lawmakers and their body. If more people thought LegCo could make a difference the turnout would have been far higher. That it was not a clear vote of no-confidence in the LegCo itself.

 posted by Simon on 09.13.04 at 11:13 AM in the




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HONG KONG ELECTION RESULTS
Excerpt: Not as great a success for the anti-Beijing Democrats as they would have hoped, ending up with 24 seats in a legislative chamber of 60 seats where 30 are appointed ensuring their pro-Beijing stance (note that the Democrats picked up
Weblog: Peaktalk
Tracked: September 13, 2004 12:53 PM


Comments:

To some extent I disagree - it was a 10% increase in voters on 4 years ago which is an encouraging sign. Also, people are not voting for a government so much as they are an opposition. As Peaktalk righttly points out in the article he tracks back to you with, the scandals had a dampening effect - as he says, the issues will bring people out, the scandals will keep them home. It also seems some people went home when there were no ballot papers left in some polling stations.

 posted by: Phil on 09.13.04 at 01:00 PM [permalink]




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