Add Your Photos and Video to This Story

Hong Kong legislative polls open

by amyjudd | September 6, 2008 at 08:24 pm | 130 views | add comment | 0 recommendations

The polls have opened in Hong Kong for elections for the Legislative Council.

Voters in this Chinese-administered but autonomous territory can vote directly for only half of the Council's seats, with the other half chosen by special limited constituencies.

An upsurge in patriotic feeling fuelled by the recent Beijing Olympics is expected to help the pro-government candidates.

The democratic camp won most votes last time around, but China has blunted their appeal by offering a conditional promise of future democracy.

About a third of voters have remained undecided ahead of this election, with economic and livelihood concerns paramount and few other huge issues provoking controversy.

It was four years ago when it was discovered that winning a majority of votes in the election was not enough to gain control of the legislative assembly.

This time around, pro-government parties are expected to do better - even though the administration of chief executive Donald Tsang is deeply unpopular after a string of recent blunders.

The democrats' argument for full democracy in this former British colony has been blunted by China's conditional promise of some kind of universal suffrage by 2017.

Most importantly, patriotic feelings toward China have surged - after the tragedy of the Sichuan earthquake and the huge excitement and pride generated by the Beijing Olympics.