Hong Kong voters are preparing to vote for the first time this weekend since election laws were changed, amid a dearth of opposition candidates months after the city began cracking down on dissent.
The legislative elections, to be held Sunday, come after Beijing in March passed a resolution for electoral reform in Hong Kong that gives Beijing more control over who is elected to Hong Kong’s legislature. Beijing has tightened its grip over the semi-autonomous Chinese city following months of pro-democracy protests in 2019 that at times descended into violent clashes between police and protesters.
The electoral reforms and stringent vetting processes have also led to fewer pro-democracy candidates. For the first time since 1997, no members from Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy party, the Democratic Party, submitted applications to be nominated. Voter turnout is widely expected to be low for Sunday’s elections. Polls by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute in November found that 53% of respondents opposed the new electoral system, and only 52% planned to vote — which would be the lowest turnout in three decades.
The new electoral reforms are a “derailing of the democratization process,” said Kenneth Chan, an associate professor in Hong Kong Baptist University’s department of government and international studies.
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