POLLING opened in Hong Kong’s first “patriots only” district council elections today, with officials dismissing concerns of potentially low turnout in a race that has shut out all opposition candidates after a national security crackdown. 

The previous election was held at the peak of the huge, sometimes violent, democracy protests in 2019, and recorded a historic-high 71% turnout – delivering a landslide victory for the pro-democracy camp. 

As part of the widespread clampdown on political opposition – aided by a national security law imposed in 2020 by Beijing – the city authorities overhauled the councils’ composition earlier this year.

Authorities have attempted to drum up enthusiasm for the election, covering the city with posters urging Hong Kongers to vote, but this morning, polling booths appeared empty in the wealthy Mid-Levels area.

“It must be the patriots ruling Hong Kong – this is our principle,” said a civil engineer surnamed Lee, a lone early voter, adding “the election wouldn’t be affected just because some (candidates) can’t be part of it”.

According to new rules announced in May, seats for direct election were slashed from 462 to 88, with the other 382 seats controlled by the city leader, government loyalists and rural landlords.

Candidates are required to seek nominations from three government-appointed committees, which effectively shut out all pro-democracy parties.  

More than 70% of the directly elected candidates were committee members.

The new rules covering this election and other changes to Hong Kong’s system of governance have been described as ensuring positions of power are filled only by people considered by Beijing to be “patriots”.

City leader John Lee said one of the main criteria for district councillors – after “passion” and “diligence” – must be “unified” thoughts. 

“There should be no more political dissonance,” he said Wednesday on RTHK, the city’s official broadcaster. 

But this new arrangement is “likely to produce (district councils) that are more like government echo chambers”, said scholar John Burns, an expert in Hong Kong politics and public administration.

“Authorities are trying to change the political culture of Hong Kongers… Allowing a more diverse field of candidates would undermine the government’s campaign to rid Hong Kong of such opposition,” he told AFP. 

Senior officials have rejected concerns about potentially low voter participation, with Erick Tsang, the constitutional affairs minister overseeing the election, saying “the turnout rate cannot be an indicator of the (new) system’s success”. 

More than 12,000 police officers were deployed across the city to prevent disturbances in the election, according to local media. 

On Tuesday, a 38-year-old man was charged with reposting a video of an overseas commentator that allegedly incited people to boycott the election. – AFP, December 10, 2023.