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Hong Kong appoints the current head of Security as a new leader in an election without other candidates

2022-05-08T18:34:29.269Z


Until now number two of the autonomous government, John Lee, backed by Beijing, promises stability and order after receiving 99.4% of the votes


Many things can be thought or said about the elections held this Sunday in Hong Kong to appoint its new head of the autonomous government – ​​that they have been closely controlled by Beijing, for example – but not that they have been close.

Only one candidate was presented, the officer: John Lee, until now number two of the local Executive and a long-time police officer.

In a city of 7.4 million people, 1,461 people were called to the polls, members of the Electoral College, representatives of Hong Kong's economic and political elites and selected for their loyalty to the central government.

The result could not be a surprise: with 99.4% of votes in favour, Lee has been named the new leader of the former British colony.

Lee will replace the unpopular Carrie Lam as head of the autonomous government.

Disgraced among her fellow citizens and radioactive to Beijing for her poor management of the protests that paralyzed the city in 2019 and galvanized the opposition to achieve its greatest electoral victory in history - in the municipal elections that year - Lam confirmed last month who gave up running for a second term.

The process, the first election of the head of government since the entry into force of the National Security Law in 2020 and the electoral reform imposed by Beijing last year, has been held with all pomp and attention to form.

The vote was held in the gigantic Wanchai Convention Center, where the polls opened at 9:00 am (3:00 am Spanish peninsular time) for the vast majority of voters;

another center had been set up for those affected by covid.

97.7% of those summoned participated.

Up to 7,000 police officers were deployed in the city to protect the process.

A single, small protest rally, organized by the League of Social Democrats (a small opposition party), lasted less than an hour.

After the end of the voting, shortly after 11 in the morning, the ballot boxes were moved to the counting center.

Lee needed 750 votes to win the nomination, and he got 1,416 of the 1,424 valid votes cast.

Only eight voters chose the "no support" ballot for the candidate.

These figures make him the candidate elected with the largest margin in the post-colonial history of Hong Kong, a mark enjoyed until now by Donald Tsang, who prevailed in the 2007 election with 649 votes, 82.4%.

Upon accepting the appointment, Lee, 64, a Catholic, has indicated that maintaining stability and security in the autonomous territory will be among his top priorities.

"We will continue to uphold the rule of law, which is a key pillar of our sensible governance, and we will face future challenges with absolute confidence, protecting the country's sovereignty, national security and development", he maintained when asked by the press after his victory.

Likewise, he has promised to “protect Hong Kong from external and internal threats.

Ensuring its stability will continue to be of vital importance.”

As Secretary of Security and number two of the autonomous Executive, the new Hong Kong leader has been responsible for the application of the National Security Law, which since its entry into force on June 30, 2020 has led to the arrest of dozens of the main politicians and opposition activists, the closure of pro-democracy media such as

Apple Daily

or

Stand News

and what Western governments have denounced as a setback of the system of freedoms that China had promised to guarantee at least until 2047 in the agreements with the United Kingdom for the return of the former colony to the sovereignty of Beijing in 1997.

Along the way, the opposition – whose deputies resigned en masse as a gesture of protest in November 2020 – has ceased to exist in the local Parliament.

An electoral reform parallel to the National Security law imposes from 2021 strict requirements of loyalty to the central government - officially defined as "patriotism" - and guarantees that the pro-democratic bloc, which a year earlier seemed to have a chance for the first time in history to gain control of the Chamber, can only aspire to a symbolic presence at best.

Human rights NGOs have left the enclave.

The once-vibrant civil society keeps its head down and often remains silent for fear of reprisals.

In one of the latest examples,

Lee played a key role in drafting the extradition law that Carrie Lam's Executive wanted to pass in 2019. That measure, which would have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China to stand trial, triggered the massive demonstrations that paralyzed Hong Kong during the second half of that year.

The then Secretary of Security was in charge of coordinating the repression of those marches, which over time took on a violent hue.

The rallies eventually became an anti-government protest movement in Beijing before being suffocated first by measures against the coronavirus pandemic and later by the National Security Law.

The new leader faces the immediate challenge of fighting the pandemic, which has kept the borders closed for the last two years in what was a very cosmopolitan city and one of the most open economies in Asia, and the preparations for the 25 anniversary of the return of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China on July 1 - a pomp that Chinese President Xi Jinping himself is expected to attend.

The city is also facing a significant brain drain in the face of measures against the coronavirus and the harsh application of the National Security law.

The new head of the autonomous government has promised to relaunch Hong Kong as an international city and give it a new impetus as a financial center, and take measures to facilitate access to housing in one of the most expensive markets in the world.

He has also stated that the implementation of other security laws that complement the one imposed by Beijing in 2020 will be a priority of his mandate.

The former policeman, a member of the force for more than three decades, has insisted on numerous occasions, and especially during his election campaign, that Hong Kong is a society governed by law and all of its population must abide by it.

Lee has been the subject of US sanctions since 2020 for what Washington then called his role in the "coercion, arrest, detention, or imprisonment of individuals" under the National Security Act.

The central government in Beijing has expressed its satisfaction with Lee's appointment in a 5,000-word article published by its Hong Kong and Macao Affairs office, highlighting the large number of votes in favor of the new leader as evidence of to what extent "Hong Kong holds you in high regard."

Highlighting his role in the response to the 2019 protests and the implementation of the National Security law, he highlights that "the vast majority of Hong Kong residents are full of confidence and expectations of Lee, and believe that he will form a team of politicians full of talent to form an Administration that governs with drive and achieves objectives”.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-05-08

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