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Legislative Council election. Live | Lam Cheng: Election postponed by one year, re-election on September 5, 2021

2020-07-31T10:49:45.383Z


Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will hold a press conference at 6 pm to personally announce that the Legislative Council elections originally scheduled for September 6 will be postponed for one year. The government believes that society must focus on fighting the epidemic at present, and is worried that elections will cause a large number of citizens to gather and increase the chance of infection, so it has made this decision. The nomination period for the Legislative Council election ended today (31st). Yesterday (30th) 12 democratic candidates were disqualified from the election after receiving a letter from the Returning Officer. According to the news, the government will not issue any more DQ letters today, and the fate of the other democrats who have received the enquiry letter from the Returning Officer remains pending. "Hong Kong 01" live broadcast of Lam Cheng's press conference.


Political situation

Written by: Di Ruimin, Luo Jiaqing, Peng Zhuowei, Lin Jian, Liu Jinhua, Qiu Qiqian, Zhen Yiheng, Huang Fengyi

2020-07-31 17:46

Last update date: 2020-07-31 18:43

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will hold a press conference at 6 pm to personally announce that the Legislative Council elections originally scheduled for September 6 will be postponed for one year. The government believes that society must focus on fighting the epidemic at present, and is worried that elections will cause a large number of citizens to gather and increase the chance of infection, so it has made this decision.

The nomination period for the Legislative Council election ended today (31st). Yesterday (30th) 12 democratic candidates were disqualified from the election after receiving a letter from the Returning Officer. According to the news, the government will not issue any more DQ letters today, and the fate of the other democrats who have received the enquiry letter from the Returning Officer remains pending.

"Hong Kong 01" live broadcast of Lam Cheng's press conference.

[18:15] Talking about the impact of the epidemic on the election, Lam Cheng said that the Legislative Council election is unique and is the largest election in Hong Kong, involving 4.4 million voters, 70 seats, 615 voting stations, and 3 4,000 personnel. In addition, a central counting station has been set up to create crowds and increase the risk of infection. Lam Cheng also mentioned that many registered voters live in the mainland for a long time and are willing to return to Hong Kong every time they voted in the past. However, some residents are still stranded overseas and in the mainland and cannot exercise their voting rights due to border restrictions. In addition, under the gathering restriction order, no more than two people can gather, which prevents the usual election activities.

Lin Zheng continued that there will be tens of thousands of staff at the central counting station, together with the media center. However, Yabo, which used to be a central counting station in the past, has been transformed into a community treatment center. It would be great to find another place in a short time. challenge. In addition, the elderly are at the greatest risk of infection during the epidemic, but 600,000 registered voters are over 71 years old. I believe they will not be willing to vote; and subject to current laws, Hong Kong cannot follow the practices of other countries and allow candidates to vote. Election campaigns, voting by day, overseas voting, electronic voting, and postal voting are arranged on TV.

With reference to overseas experience in postponing elections, Lam Zheng pointed out that at least 68 countries have postponed elections due to the epidemic, and 49 countries have held elections as scheduled. The epidemic has postponed elections in many countries and regions, such as holding elections on schedule. She also gave an example that Britain has also passed emergency bills to deal with postponing elections.

The Legislative Council election is postponed for one year, and the next term will also be postponed. (Photo by Luo Junhao)

Lam Cheng cited six reasons for postponing the election, including:

1. The Legislative Council election involves a large gathering of people;

2. A large number of Hong Kong people are in the Mainland. "Every time I vote, my friends are very happy to come back to vote." I believe many of them stay outside, including the Mainland;

3. Normal canvassing activities are restricted;

4. It is not possible to set up a central counting center in AsiaWorld-Expo, and it will not be possible to find another location in the short term;

5. A large number of elderly people are at risk of infection and are unwilling to vote;

6. Technical difficulties, such as not allowing voting on separate days, and currently there is no electronic voting.

[18:10] Carrie Lam said that after a comprehensive assessment, the current Hong Kong epidemic is the most severe since January. The risk of a major outbreak is increasing day by day, and the number of virus tests needs to be increased. She is sorry that some infected people have not been admitted to the hospital. Arrange for them to be admitted to the hospital as soon as possible, and believe that the epidemic has now constituted a major crisis for the people of Hong Kong.

Lam Cheng said that there are currently 4.4 million registered voters in Hong Kong. As if they voted at 615 polling stations on the same day, there is a very high risk of cross-infection.

Lin Zheng stated that he had not discussed with Feng Hua, chairman of the EAC, whether to postpone the election, but Feng Hua took the initiative to write to her, raising the public health risks of holding the election as scheduled.

[18:05] Carrie Lam said that how severe the epidemic is now, if the public has watched the press conference of the Department of Health, they will know that there have been 17 million infections worldwide, including 600,000 deaths. If the government’s policy changes slightly Slack, the number of epidemic cases will rise, because there is currently no way to completely solve the virus.

Lam Cheng said that in addition to reducing the cross-border flow of people, the government has also restricted the social distance of citizens and strengthened virus testing, hoping to find the source of the virus as soon as possible.

She also mentioned that the government has made great efforts to reduce the flow of cross-border people. The number of people entering the country from 325,000 in January has fallen to 2016 as of yesterday.

However, since July 8th, the epidemic has developed into an extremely severe state. From July 8th to 30th, there were 1,852 newly confirmed cases. Yesterday, a single-day high of 149 cases was recorded, and many of them were of unknown origin. .

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Lam Cheng announced the adjournment of elections

[18:00] When everyone entered the venue, Chief Executive Carrie Lam first spoke, saying that the fight against the epidemic since July has caused a great blow to the people's livelihood and economy. The SAR government dare not relax. Even if the epidemic is stable for a while, it has never taken it lightly. Lin Zheng continued to insist that he has always adhered to three principles: one) be prepared at all times, two) be responsive when changes occur, and three) be open and transparent.

Lam Cheng also quoted WHO Director-General Tedros Tedros, saying that facing a severe epidemic, one of the most basic elements to prevent the spread of the virus is determination and a willingness to make difficult choices.

Lin Zheng immediately announced the postponement of the election, saying that the relevant decision was the most difficult one in the seven months since the fight against the epidemic. Lin Zheng said that he would use the "Emergency Law" as the legal basis, and said that this decision was supported by the central government.

[17:45] Chief Executive Carrie Lam, Secretary for Justice Cheng Ruohua, Secretary for Food and Health, Chen Shi, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Zeng Guowei, and Permanent Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Tang Renguang attended the press conference.

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Source: hk1

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