Hong Kong poll: 68% of citizens support the resumption of Legislative Council election

 Reporter : Guan Shiming / Editor : Zheng Xin / Publisher : Sound Of Hope

Ref : https://www.soundofhope.org/post/418336 / Direct translation

The Hong Kong government postponed the Legislative Council election scheduled for September 6 by one year on the grounds of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic. The latest poll results released today (4th) by the Hong Kong Institute of Public Opinion (referred to as: Minyan) showed that 68% of the public support the resumption of the Legislative Council elections as soon as possible, while only 27% of the respondents opposed. Chen Jialuo, associate professor of the Department of Politics and International Relations at Baptist University, pointed out that public opinion is very clear. Carrie Lam's postponement of elections is to avoid public sentiments. Hong Kong has entered an era of authoritarian political governance.

The Hong Kong Democracy Research Institute conducted an online survey from August 31 to September 3. A total of 14,691 Hong Kong citizens were interviewed on "Opinions on whether to restart the September 6 Legislative Council election as soon as possible". Among them, 12,293 are pro-democratic supporters and 1,254 are non-democratic supporters. Among the respondents who responded with political orientation, up to 96% of the democratic supporters believed that the election should be held again, and 48% of them even believed that the voting should be completed within one day; 36% of the non-democratic supporters believed that the election should be resumed, with 55 opponents. %. The overall approval rate was 68%, while only 27% opposed.

Chen Jialuo, associate professor of the Department of Politics and International Relations at Baptist University, pointed out that the survey results show that public opinion is very clear. The vast majority of citizens demand that the Legislative Council elections should be conducted as usual. "Interpretation" on the extension of membership. He also criticized the postponement of one year as "avoidable for a while, and unavoidable for a lifetime."

Chen Jialuo pointed out that Lin Zheng's decision to cancel the election by the Executive Council without the authorization of the public is completely unscientific to postpone the election for one year. It is still unknown whether the election will be scheduled after a year. He said that supporters of the democrats believe that the citizens' right to vote this time has been deprived of the government, so 96% of them think that the election will be restarted. The relevant ideas are also reflected in the debate on the democratic legislators to stay in the Legislative Council, whether they advocate resigning or stay in office. All of them have unanimously demanded that the election be restarted.

In response to a recent public statement by a Hong Kong government official that there is no "separation of powers" in Hong Kong, Chen Jialuo is worried that the "separation of powers" has also been rejected, and the next step may "sword against the judicial authorities." He asked the Hong Kong Government whether all future issues can be decided by the "emergency law"? He also pointed out that if the Hong Kong Government continues to use the "Hong Kong version of the National Security Law" in conjunction with the "Emergency Law" to gradually deprive Hong Kong people of freedom and human rights, Hong Kong will enter an era of authoritarian political governance with fewer and fewer democratic checks and balances.