The Hong Kong government’s plan to allow Hong Kong people living in mainland China to vote in the legislative elections has slowed down significantly, with no more talk of implementation in next year’s Legislative Council elections. Politicians and scholars estimate that the Hong Kong government’s “sudden braking” may be due to Beijing’s concern that free and open elections for Hong Kong people will sow the seeds of democracy in the mainland and bring political risks, and that it is now more convenient to disqualify members of the Legislative Council (commonly known as DQ) at will, so there is no need to take the risk of opening up voting to Hong Kong people in the mainland.
When the Hong Kong pro-establishment camp was facing the Legislative Council election scheduled for September, it urged to allow Hong Kong people living in the mainland to vote to increase their chances of winning. However, a week before the Policy Address was released, the pro-establishment online media “Hong Kong-01” suddenly published an article written by a writer who occasionally reflects the views of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong, saying that the Hong Kong government is suddenly slowing down on “overseas voting,” mainly because Beijing is “weighing the pros and cons” and is worried that opening the door for Hong Kong people to vote in the Mainland may sow the “seeds of democracy” in direct elections. The article also pointed out that if the Policy Address did not make a substantive announcement on the arrangement, “the plan is highly unlikely to be “aborted”.
The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr. Tsang Kwok Wai, said at the press conference on the Policy Address yesterday (27th) that the government still needs to consider the issue in detail, “We adopt an open attitude, we do not say we will do it or we won’t do it, and we will not implement it without first ensuring that we can do a good job. He also denied that the Hong Kong government has “steered away from the election”. He stressed that the most important thing is that the election must be conducted under the general principles of fairness, impartiality and honesty.
As for other electoral arrangements proposed by the pro-establishment camp, including the establishment of a “care team” for those in need to vote, electronic ballot distribution, etc., Mr. Tsang said, “We will do one thing at a time when it is mature,” while citing the “care team” as an example, claiming that Hong Kong, as a caring society, needs to provide “care arrangements”, pointing out that different countries and regions also have arrangements for people with expertise and pregnant women to vote first.
According to Associate Professor Yue Ma of the Department of Political Science and Administration at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the government’s change of mind is not only because allowing Mainland Chinese residents to vote would introduce an election campaign that could affect the political climate in the Mainland, but also because the Hong Kong government can use the NPC Standing Committee’s decision to disqualify members of the legislature at will, so there is no need to risk opening the door for Hong Kong people in the Mainland to vote. He expects that, according to Tsang Wai-kuo, Hong Kong will not implement overseas voting for some time to come.
The Democrats also pointed out that there have always been technical and legal restrictions on allowing Hong Kong people in the mainland to vote. The reason for the sharp U-turn is that the authorities are also worried that opening up the vote would entail great political risk and would not be cost effective.
On the other hand, the pro-establishment lawmaker Ms. Alice Mak, who advocated the opening of voting to Hong Kong people in the Mainland, expressed her regret for the government’s new attitude, but she also understood and hoped that the government would solve the technical problems as soon as possible.
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