HONG KONG (Dispatches) – Hong Kong residents voted for members of the Election Committee that will choose the city’s leader in the first polls Sunday following reforms meant to ensure candidates with Beijing loyalty.
The Election Committee will select 40 of 90 lawmakers in the city’s legislature during elections in December, as well as elect the Hong Kong leader during polls in March next year.
In May, the legislature amended Hong Kong’s electoral laws to ensure that only patriots – people who are loyal to China and the semi-autonomous territory – will rule the city. The committee also was expanded to 1,500 members, from 1,200, and the number of direct voters for committee seats was reduced from about 246,000 to less than 8,000.
In the restructured electoral process, a vast majority of the Elections Committee will be largely pro-Beijing candidates, who are likely to choose a chief executive and nearly half of lawmakers who are aligned with China.
“Today’s Election Committee elections are very meaningful as it is the first elections held after we have improved the electoral system to ensure that only patriots can take office,” Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said. It’s not yet known if Lam will seek reelection in March.
The nearly 4,900 voters representing different professions and industries who went to polls Sunday will choose among 412 candidates for 364 seats in the Election Committee. Other seats were uncontested or held by people chosen based on their titles.
“This election lets us select solid patriots who love our country and Hong Kong to rule Hong Kong, and who demonstrate their strengths in Hong Kong’s administration and politics,” said Armstrong Lee, a candidate representing the social welfare sector.
Wang Ting-ting, a voter from the financial sector, said she would vote for candidates who are “patriots who love our country and love Hong Kong.”
“This is the most important,” she said. “Secondly, I would vote for those who are capable, because capability matters the most in this position.”
Lam said the new Election Committee will be broadly representative as it included more grassroots organizations and associations that represent Hong Kongers who live and work in mainland China.
Sunday’s vote was taking place at five polling stations.