Hong Kong police control access to a street in downtown Mongkok during protests in response to China’s national security law.
SOPA images
Hong Kong holds elections for the city’s legislature on Sunday – the first election for the Legislative Council since the central government in Hong Kong. Beijing leads an overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral process This year.
An analyst who spoke to CNBC predicts less interest in the polls this time around, because those election changes have “narrowed” choice for voters. Amendments introduced as part of an electoral overhaul mean fewer directly elected representatives and more Beijing-approved officials.
Kurt Tong, partner at The Asia Group, predicts turnout at the polls is “fairly low.”
“Really the options are narrowing for voters and so I expect turnout to be pretty low,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday.
“The nature of the election has changed dramatically from five years ago when it really felt like a legislative assembly election could have a major impact on the direction of city governance. And that seems to be the case. not right now,” added Tong.
Under the new electoral system, the total number of seats in the legislature has been increased from 70 to 90. But the number of directly elected representatives has shrunk.
Previously, half of the Council’s representatives were directly elected by ordinary Hong Kongers. Under the new rules, about a fifth of them will be.
One Election Commission which previously held only limited powers will now fully elect nearly half of the Council’s representatives, and screening anyone who wants to run for other seats.
Criticize the process
Henry Tang, standing commissioner of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, argued to CNBC on Friday that the electoral changes are a step forward for democracy. The CPPCC is China’s top political advisory body.
He is responding to a question about whether Hong Kong has lost its autonomy, with the number of directly elected seats falling.
“I can say that democratic progress in Hong Kong has gone one step further,” the former Hong Kong administrative secretary told “Street Signs Asia” on Friday. “Because first, we have 90 members of the Legislative Council, instead of the 70 before. The composition has changed because we want more diversity and more inclusion.”
Tang, who is also Hong Kong’s former Finance Minister, explained that the candidates include individuals from “various backgrounds.”
– CNBC’s Ted Kemp contributed to this report.
