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Hong Kong`s top pro-Beijing party hurt by Democratic opponents
Hong Kong, Nov 24: A record number of Hong Kong voters punished the territory`s top pro-Beijing party in local elections - in a backlash against unpopular leader Tung Chee-Hwa that raises the stakes in next year`s legislative contests.
Hong Kong, Nov 24: A record number of Hong Kong voters punished the territory's top pro-Beijing party in local elections - in a backlash against unpopular leader Tung Chee-Hwa that raises the stakes in next year's legislative contests.
The opposition Democratic Party claimed 92 contested
seats in the district council elections yesterday, an increase
of six from the 1999 races, party official Florence Chan said
early this morning.
The pro-Beijing and pro-government Democratic Alliance for the betterment of Hong Kong, or dab, ended up with about 20 fewer contested seats than the 83 it scored in 1999. Government-owned radio Rthk said the dab won 64 seats while a dab worker at the party headquarters put the total at just 62. All sides agreed that dab paid the price for backing Tung, who ran into his biggest crisis yet in July when 500,000 people marched against an anti-subversion measure they viewed as a threat to Hong Kong's civil liberties.
Tung had to retreat on the bill while Hong Kongers celebrated their "people power", showing yesterday they might carry that momentum into legislative elections next September.
"I believe the government got the message," said Yeung Sum, chairman of the democratic party. "The citizenry's democratic aspirations are very clear." More than 1 million people voted yesterday for a 44 per cent turnout, compared with 36 per cent turnout in 1999 district council elections. There has been a recent surge in new voter registration.
Bureau Report
The pro-Beijing and pro-government Democratic Alliance for the betterment of Hong Kong, or dab, ended up with about 20 fewer contested seats than the 83 it scored in 1999. Government-owned radio Rthk said the dab won 64 seats while a dab worker at the party headquarters put the total at just 62. All sides agreed that dab paid the price for backing Tung, who ran into his biggest crisis yet in July when 500,000 people marched against an anti-subversion measure they viewed as a threat to Hong Kong's civil liberties.
Tung had to retreat on the bill while Hong Kongers celebrated their "people power", showing yesterday they might carry that momentum into legislative elections next September.
"I believe the government got the message," said Yeung Sum, chairman of the democratic party. "The citizenry's democratic aspirations are very clear." More than 1 million people voted yesterday for a 44 per cent turnout, compared with 36 per cent turnout in 1999 district council elections. There has been a recent surge in new voter registration.
Bureau Report