The Hindu : International : Hong Kong goes to the polls

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 13, 2004

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International

Hong Kong goes to the polls

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, SEPT. 12. Widely regarded as a test of the `pro-democracy' sentiments of the people, a general election was held today in Hong Kong, which is governed as a special administrative region of China. The turnout for the Legislative Council by 6.30 p.m. was just under 40 per cent of the 3.2 million registered voters, with another four hours to go for the closing time. There were no official reports of any untoward incident.

Results are expected by Monday morning.

Voting for 30 of the 60 seats takes place in five "geographical constituencies" under the "list system of proportional representation." In respect of 35 lists, 88 candidates are in the fray. The other 30 are being filled from "functional constituencies," where the "first-past-the-post system" will apply. With unopposed candidates having already won 11 seats, 60 persons are now competing for the other 19.

The Hong Kong Chief Executive, Tung Chee Hwa, who was among the early voters, said he hoped to cooperate with the members of the Council to foster the territory's "economic prosperity and social stability." These two priorities have often been spelt out by him and the Chinese Government as the benchmarks that should be kept in mind by the citizens in the context of demands for "full democracy".

Hong Kong, formerly a British colony, was returned to China seven years ago, and the politics have acquired the overtones of a debate on the democratisation under Beijing's principle of "one country, two systems."

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