Record low turnout in Hong Kong by-elections (1st Lead)

May 17, 2010, 6:38 GMT

Hong Kong - Five Hong Kong pro-democracy candidates who stepped down to force by-elections that they wanted to be a de facto referendum on universal suffrage were re-elected Monday.

However, Sunday's polling attracted a record-low 17 per cent of the city's 3.37 million voters.

Pro-democracy parties had hoped for more than 1 million voters after the legislators resigned in protest against proposed electoral reforms,i which they say do not go far enough towards full democracy.

But the pro-China parties refused to field candidates and Hong Kong's chief executive Donald Tsang refused to vote, calling the elections a waste of taxpayers' money and an abuse of the electoral process.

Tsang said the low turnout showed people were satisfied with the proposed reform schedule and agreed that the by-election had been 'an abuse of the electoral system.'

'We should respect those who chose to exercise their rights and cast their vote yesterday,' Tsang said.

'But at the same time, we should not ignore the views of the silent majority who chose not to vote,' he said. 'Yesterday's performance has told us they are tired of violent actions. They want peaceful dialogue, they want objective discussion, they want us to move ahead.'

Hong Kong's secretary for constitutional affairs Stephen Lam said: 'The people of Hong Kong are very astute, very mature in assessing political issues.

'It is a fact that only 579,000 people have turned out to vote and that about 2.8 million of our registered voters have chosen not to take part in this by-election exercise.'

Hong Kong, a former British colony which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, has no popular vote for chief executive and only half its 60 legislators directly elected.

The city is technically entitled to full democracy under its post- handover mini-constitution, but Beijing has so far refused to set a timetable for universal suffrage.