HK poll results indicate people want change

The stunning victory scored by the pro-democracy camp at community-level elections in Hong Kong unmistakably reveals wide public support for the protest movement that has stirred months of violence and it is good that Chief Executive Carrie Lam has vowed to “listen humbly” to voters.

In a rout that startled the semi-autonomous territory, candidates seeking to loosen control by China seized an overwhelming majority of the 452 elected seats in the city’s 18 district councils, bodies that have historically been firmly in the grip of a Beijing-aligned establishment.

A record 71% of Hong Kong’s 4.1 million registered voters cast ballots in the city’s only fully democratic elections, well exceeding the 47% turnout in the same poll four years ago.

The result, the first vote to be held since protests engulfed the city, is largely seen as a rebuke to Carrie Lam.

She has so far dismissed calls for political reform and repeatedly suggested that a silent majority supported her administration and opposed the protest movement.

While Carrie Lam has been insisting that violence must stop before real dialogue could begin, the violence has actually gotten worse, as the police have moved from pepper spray and tear gas to water cannons, and the protesters from bricks to gasoline bombs and bows and arrows.

Students and young people have been at the forefront of the hundreds of thousands who have taken to the streets since June to seek greater democracy, among other demands.

After months of clashes, the police are being seen as an enemy for many of the protesters, and one of their main demands is for an independent investigation into the use of force to suppress the demonstrations.

One way out could be a review of both police and protester actions during the months of unrest, but that would be a major reversal for Lam, who has steadfastly supported police officers and their actions.

On expected lines, the pro-democracy camp sees the astounding gains as a victory for the people and want Carrie Lam and Beijing to now seriously heed protesters’ demands, which include free elections for the city’s leader and legislature as well as an investigation into alleged police brutality.

Beijing, on its part, has consistently blamed foreign powers for fomenting the unrest in Hong Kong, and has showed no signs that it may soften its stance on the former British colony, which was returned to China in 1997.

China governs Hong Kong under a special “one country, two systems” framework that is meant to give the city more freedoms and liberties than on the mainland. But public anger has been building for years over a belief that Beijing is eroding those freedoms.

The unrest has already pushed Hong Kong’s economy into recession for the first time in a decade. Retail and tourism sectors have been hit particularly hard as tourists stay away.

The one resounding message from the election results is that the people of Hong Kong want change.

The results may eventually force the central government in Beijing to rethink how to handle the unrest, which is now in its sixth month. The district councils have little power, but the vote became a referendum on public support for the protests.

Lam’s promise to seriously reflect on the result is an appropriate approach and words should be followed by deeds.

All sides should work for an early and peaceful resolution of the unrest as Hong Kong people have suffered for long.