20100516 HK activists wrap up ‘referendum’

HK activists wrap up ‘referendum’

AP, HONG KONG
Sunday, May 16, 2010, Page 5

Five Hong Kong democracy activists made a final appeal to voters yesterday’s before a special election they triggered as an attempt to pressure Beijing to make political reforms in this former British colony.

Beijing opposes today’s election as a challenge to its authority and Hong Kong’s leader said he and his senior officials wouldn’t vote in the contest.

The five activists, former legislators representing each of Hong Kong’s five major electoral districts, resigned from their seats in January. Their plan was to engineer a special election where they would compete against pro-Beijing candidates, effectively setting up a de facto territory-wide referendum on democracy.

However, with the Chinese government questioning the campaign, Beijing loyalists in Hong Kong decided to boycott the election. As a result, the five activists are expected to easily win against a smattering of unknown candidates. Now, the focus has shifted to voter turnout.

Political analysts say turnout will be low because of the pro-China boycott. However, the five former lawmakers say that if their base — which they estimate at 25 percent of Hong Kong’s 3.4 million registered voters — turns out to vote, they will consider the campaign a success.

“That would be a mandate,” Albert Chan (陳偉業), one of the five legislators who resigned, said on the sidelines of a rally late on Friday.

The activists want full democracy in Hong Kong. As part of its semi-autonomous status under Chinese rule, Hong Kong enjoys Western-style civil liberties, but its leader is chosen by an 800-member committee with a pro-Beijing bias.

The 60-member legislature is half-elected, half-chosen by interest groups, many of whom ­represent the business sector.

About 1,000 supporters attended the rally late Friday, blowing whistles and chanting slogans such as “I want universal suffrage” and “The people raise their heads.” They sang along with a performance of John Lennon’s “Power to the People.”

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) announced in a statement released late Friday that he and his top political appointees — including cabinet secretaries and deputy secretaries — won’t vote in the by-election. Tsang said he believes that many residents consider the poll unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer dollars.