Published 13:03 IST, November 26th 2019
Chinese papers avoid details of Hong Kong's democratic election
Chinese major news outlets have boycotted the democratic district election council results in Hong Kong where the pro-democracy candidates were victorious.
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Chinese newspapers and major news outlets have boycotted the democratic district election council results in Hong Kong where the pro-democracy candidates swept record number of seats resulting in a landslide victory. According to the reports, China's tightly controlled media barely put any attention on Sunday's elections. The pro-democracy candidates were intimidated and tactics were used to reduce the exposure and visibility of pro-democracy candidates. The candidate's offices were damaged, phone lines and the internet were cut and campaign posters and banners were removed.
Government to listen humbly to citizens
A statement was released by the government in which the executive leader, Carrie Lam said the government will certainly listen humbly to citizens' opinions and revert back on them seriously. She also realised the fact that the citizens are unhappy with the current social situation and other deep problems without going into details. Lam said that the government respects the election results. Hong Kong recorded an increase in voter turnout by 71.2 per cent of the city's 4.1 million registered voters casting their ballots by the time the polls closed, the figures sharply exceeded the 47 per cent turnout in the same election back in 2015.
Elections amid high political instability
This election was held in the country after massive protests broke out in the country against the government after it proposed a controversial extradition bill. The bill now stands withdrawn. Total turnout exceeded 2.94 million voters, a rate of 71 per cent, surpassing a record from the previous legislative council election in 2016 of about 1.47 million. A record 4.1 million people, including 4,00,000 new voters, signed up to cast ballots in the poll. The protests started in June over a now-abandoned extradition bill. However, it later escalated to include demands for democratic elections for the city’s leader and legislature, and an independent probe into alleged police brutality in suppressing the protests.
12:25 IST, November 26th 2019