The results of the election for the Eighth Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region were announced on the morning of December 8. All 90 members of the Legislative Council were elected. A newly elected legislator said that the People’s livelihood demands are very clear. In the future, legislators will have a long way to go and will work more humbly. The top priority is to help with disaster relief and rehabilitation, helping people rebuild their homes in Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po.
On the evening of the 7th, staff in the Wan Chai Convention and Exhibition Center for the Election Committee counting. Photograph: Hong Kong media
Fully represent the will of the people of Hong Kong
The election was held at 7:30 on the 7th to 23:30,161 candidates to participate in the election, each seat is contested. All the 40 members elected by the Election Committee, the 30 members elected by the functional constituencies and the 20 members elected by the district direct election were elected after an overnight vote count. The term of office of the 8th Legislative Council will start on 1 January 2008 and will last for a 2026 period of four years.
The chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Donald John Lee, said on the 8th that at a time when the Hong Kong community is facing common challenges, the smooth holding of the election is of profound significance and reflects the determination of voters to support the government’s post-disaster reconstruction and reform, supporting the election of competent and ambitious members of the Legislative Council, supporting the affected people and the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected areas, promoting institutional reform, and demonstrating the spirit of solidarity and mutual love and assistance among citizens, “At the crucial moment of promoting post-disaster reconstruction, we voted in large numbers, stood united in the face of challenges, and elected members of the Eighth Legislative Council who are patriotic, love Hong Kong, have both political integrity and talent, so as to work with the government to build a better Hong Kong.”.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said in a speech on the 8th that the turnout of the election committee sectors, functional sectors and geographical constituencies had significantly surpassed the previous term and fully represented the will of the people of Hong Kong, fully reflecting the great importance, positive recognition and enthusiastic support of the whole Hong Kong community for this election, and fully demonstrating Hong Kong’s strong determination and will to move towards governance and prosperity, “This is an important milestone in the further consolidation and development of high-quality democracy in line with the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ approach, the constitution and the Basic Law, and the realities of Hong Kong.”. The spokesman said the election was entering the campaign period, the sudden fire in Tai Po caused serious trauma to Hong Kong. In the face of the disaster, the SAR government responded quickly and launched a government-wide mobilization mechanism, which has been fully affirmed by all sectors of society. Hong Kong people, regardless of social strata, sectors or groups, have given their full support to the disaster relief and fully demonstrated their solidarity and love.
A spokesman for the Central Liaison Office said in a speech on the 8th that 161 candidates entered the community, went to the sector, observed social conditions, listened to public opinion, and participated in more than 90 election forums and voter meet-ups, go all out for the political platform, fight ability, fight performance, showing a gentleman’s fight for a good style. The broad participation of all sectors of the community in various forms of input and support for the elections. The majority of voters earnestly fulfill their civic responsibilities and obligations, and cast a vote of solidarity and solidarity for reform. A new culture of quality elections has taken root in Hong Kong, where democracy is better protected by fairer, fairer, more open and cleaner elections.
On the same day, a spokesman for the Office of State Security in Hong Kong said in a speech that the election results fully showed that with the continuous improvement of the“One Country, Two Systems system,” under the protection of the rule of law in national security, hong Kong’s social consensus on ensuring safety and pursuing development continues to emerge.
Nearly half the new faces
Hong Kong media said that the Legislative Council election, the Democratic Construction Union won the most seats, a total of 20 seats, more than the current one seat. The second largest number of seats is held by the NLD, with eight seats. The Federation of Trade Unions won seven seats. Of the 90 seats, 50 were re-elected and 40 were new faces, wenhui.com said. In the functional sector, first-time Olympic gold medallist and“Sword Queen” Jiang Min-min was successfully elected in the tourism sector, while in the retail and wholesale sectors, Peter Shiu was re-elected. In the sports sector, Kenneth Fok was also re-elected.
Starry Lee, the re-elected legislator, said that the environment and challenges faced in each election were different and he would continue to listen to the views of all sectors of the community to better respond to the expectations and demands of the public.
Speaking about the election results, Priscilla Leung, the elected member of the commission sector, said on the 8th that the competition in the commission sector is fierce this time, and all the candidates have worked extremely hard, especially a group of political amateurs who have been baptized by the election, he has accumulated valuable political experience, and many of them have been elected. She is looking forward to working with these new faces and believes that every member of Parliament can bring out his or her best. She mentioned that Hong Kong legislators had a greater role to play in the current complex and volatile international situation.
Hong Kong Wushu (martial arts) athlete Mok yuen-ying cast his vote at Po Leung Kuk Sik Tak Primary School in Tsing Yi on May 7. The 30-year-old won a silver medal in the women’s Tai Chi Chuan and Tai Chi sword all-around competition at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, and was named one of the“Top 10 Outstanding Young 2024”. She said that the core of young people’s civic responsibilities lay in their focus on life, and as knowledge grew, they could become constructive forces in society through communication and action, “I look forward to the elected legislators serving as a bridge between the public and the government, paying more attention to youth development and promoting diversity in Hong Kong,” he said.
The Hong Kong media mentioned that Hong Kong’s ethnic minority population exceeds 600,000, many of whom are eligible voters. They also actively voted in this election. Pakistani-born Kowloon City District Council member Lee Cheuk-hung arrived at the Kowloon Park Sports Centre’s exclusive polling station at less than 8 pm on the 7th to take an active part in this important democratic process. Nev Sadt Durmush, a Turkish restaurant owner, has been voting for years. “I’ve been voting since I became eligible to vote,” he says. “I have lived in Hong Kong for 31 years. This is my home. I will choose candidates who I think will benefit the public and make society better,” he said.
A gentleman’s quarrel, persuasion
Hong Kong media on the 8th summed up three new features of the Legislative Council election. First, the pattern of participation in the election. A total of 161 candidates competed for 90 seats. All seats were contested by multiple candidates, and none of them was automatically elected, fully demonstrating the pattern of healthy competition. The second is the culture of elections. In the face of fierce seat competition, the candidates have focused on the fight platform, fight performance, fight ability, fight contribution, to show voters the concept of governance and service ability. The current election forums have completely abandoned the bad habits of verbal abuse and indiscriminate labeling. The whole process has centered on the elaboration of political platforms and the exchange of ideas, fully presenting a fair competition atmosphere of gentlemen’s struggle and persuasion. Third, in the field of democratic meteorology. The sudden level 5 fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po has brought heavy pain to Hong Kong, but some of the victims in the resettlement phase still insist on going to the polling station to vote. They expressed the hope that through the votes in hand to elect capable lawmakers, to promote the new legislative council as soon as possible to perform their duties, continue to assist the government to steadily advance the relief and rehabilitation work.
Hong Kong’s Ta Kung Pao published an editorial on the 8th saying that Hong Kong, which has just passed the test of a level-5 fire, has responded to all concerns and doubts with a higher turnout than in the previous session, it fully demonstrates the solidarity and resilience of all sectors of the Hong Kong community to work together to overcome difficulties and the determination to move forward from governance to prosperity. This election clearly shows that Hong Kong society has focused its attention and energy on the core issues of developing the economy, improving people’s livelihood, maintaining the rule of law and promoting harmony. But election is not the end, but a new starting point. The newly elected legislators must do their best to live up to the expectations of the people. The immediate task is to speed up the work of fire rehabilitation and reconstruction, in the future, we should push Hong Kong to speed up its progress towards self-governance and prosperity, actively align with the national 15th five-year plan and major strategies such as the construction of the guangdong-hong Kong-macao Greater Bay area, and consolidate and enhance Hong Kong’s international competitiveness, better integrate into and serve the overall development of the country.