© Reuters. Lawmakers vote on the third reading of the District Councils (Amendment) Bill, which relates to electoral reform, at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, China on July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Tyrone Siew
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Written by Jessie Pang and Joyce Zhou
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s legislature voted unanimously on Thursday to overhaul district-level elections by reducing the number of directly elected seats, which critics said would further curtail democratic freedom in the Chinese-ruled city.
Under the amendment, only 88 seats will be elected directly by the public, down from 452 in elections that saw a landslide victory for the Democratic camp in 2019.
The total number of seats will also be reduced from 479 to 470. No date has been set for the next elections.
The amendment will stifle remnants of democratic opposition in the former British colony, where a national security law imposed by China in 2020 has already led to the arrests of former MPs and local councilors and the dissolution of several political parties.
Candidates who wish to run for the next election will have to pass a national security check and secure at least three nominations from multiple committees, effectively barring most democracy advocates from running.
“It’s clear that the pro-democracy camp went into the election,” Lemon Wong, vice-chairman of the Tuen Mun District Council and one of the few remaining Democrats, told Reuters.
“I will do my best to enjoy the remaining six months of my career as a board member, because it will be hard to get again,” Wong said.
After months of anti-government protests in 2019, China imposed a national security law to criminalize what it considers subversion, separatism, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with penalties of up to life in prison.
Critics say the law is being used to stifle dissent in a city that has returned to Chinese rule under a “one country, two systems” formula meant to protect its freedoms for 50 years.
City authorities and the Beijing government deny cracking down on dissent, but say it is essential to maintain the law and order that underpin the financial hub’s economic success.
Although Hong Kong’s district councils (DCs) focus mainly on community issues, such as sweeping streets and bus stops, the Beijing and Hong Kong authorities say they want to ensure that only “patriots” are elected to them.
The city’s leader, John Lee, hailed the amendment as an important milestone in improving governance.
“We must close the institutional gaps and completely eliminate those anti-China and destabilizing forces,” he said in a statement.
“This legislative exercise implements the ‘patriots run Hong Kong’ principle… the DC is firmly in the hands of the patriots.”
China had promised universal suffrage as an ultimate goal for Hong Kong in its mini-constitution, the Basic Law.
An EU spokesperson said in a statement that it calls on “the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to restore confidence in Hong Kong’s democratic processes, and to continue to entrench universal suffrage enshrined in the Basic Law.”
Pro-democracy politicians won 388 of the 452 district council seats during the last local council elections in 2019, taking nearly 90% of the seats and humiliating the pro-Beijing camp.