Democracy. Many Forms?
May 3 2023 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong reduces directly-elected seats in district polls and these latest changes are part of an effort to ensure only ‘patriots’ hold political office in the territory. Under the changes announced by Chief Executive John Lee, 80 percent of seats will be filled by people appointed by the government and all candidates will need to be vetted. Lee, the former Hong Kong police chief who took office last year, said the reforms would “put wrongs to rights” and that councils elected in 2019 during the height of the pro-democracy protests were “platforms of protest violence and Hong Kong independence”. “Many council members refused to pledge their allegiance… they refused to recognise the People’s Republic of China as Hong Kong’s sovereign state,” Lee said at a press conference. Lee announced the change weeks after China’s top official on Hong Kong affairs said the district councils could no longer fall into the hands of “anti-China destabilising forces”. Previously, about 94 percent of seats were elected by the people for Pro-Democracy candidates. With Tuesday’s changes the proportion of elected seats is now lower than when the district councils were created in 1982 under British colonial rule. The territory was handed back to Beijing in 1997 and " “confirms the perception that a pathway towards democracy has ended for good”.
Democracy Is as Democracy Does
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