Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam vows to listen to public after election setback

Hong Kong's executive leader Carrie Lam said on November 25 that her government would listen humbly to the people after voters dealt a humiliating election setback to the Beijing-backed establishment she leads. According to the local media reports, Hong Kong pro-democracy parties took 390 of 452 district council seats that is almost nearly 90 per cent. The announcement comes a day after residents turned out in record numbers to vote post six months of unrest in the semi-autonomous territory.

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Increase in voter turnout by 71%

A statement was released by the government in which she 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. 

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Elections amid high political instability

This election was the first to be 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 The bill now stands withdrawn.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.

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