Hong Kong leader postpones elections, further eroding political freedoms
Citing the Chi-na Virus, Hong Kong is delaying the elections for the legislative council for one year. Critics see it as the CCP further eroding democracy in Hong Kong.
After disqualifying a dozen pro-democracy candidates, the Hong Kong government said Friday it would delay legislative council elections for a year, citing the coronavirus pandemic, undermining one of the few partially democratic institutions left in the Chinese territory.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam, in a news conference Friday, said she was invoking emergency powers to postpone the vote — unprecedented in the city’s political history since its handover from Britain to China in 1997. Postponing the election, she said, was the most “difficult decision” she has had to make since the onset of the virus here in January.
“We have made the decision to postpone the election for one year,” Lam said, after spending half an hour laying out her government’s response to the pandemic and the potential health risks of holding the vote.
Taken together, opposition politicians and activists say, the moves are designed to stack the political system with those loyal to the Chinese Communist Party, and snuff out even moderate political opposition in Hong Kong.
“They have basically redefined their definition of their enemies, and from one red line, we now have a few. Those red lines have become very thick,” said Alvin Yeung, leader of the opposition Civic Party and one of the disqualified candidates. “This reflects that they — not us — are in fear, in fear of the people and of their voices.”