Abolition of Hong Kong by-elections on course despite protest

Jul 4, 2011, 4:25 GMT

Hong Kong - Pro-democracy lawmakers walked out of Hong Kong's mini-parliament Monday as officials pressed ahead with plans to scrap by-elections despite a large anti-government march.

About 218,000 people took part in the march in the former British colony Friday, organizers estimated, with public discontent fueled by the government plans to abolish the by-elections.

The turnout for the annual pro-democracy march, held to coincide with the anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule, was four times larger than in 2010 and the biggest since 2004.

At a sitting Monday of a bills committee examining the government proposal to abolish by-elections, however, officials resisted calls from pro-democracy legislators to withdraw it.

The proposal was due to be voted on this month and Monday was the last chance for amendments to be made to the bill before it is put to the 60-member Legislative Council for approval.

Pro-democracy lawmakers shouted 'withdraw the evil bill' as they staged the walkout and called on the government to respect what they claimed were the demands of the people at Friday's rally.

Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed leaders want to scrap by-elections after five legislators resigned mid-term last year to protest the slow pace of democratization in Hong Kong and force by-elections they called a mini-referendum on democracy. All regained their seats, but only 17 per cent of voters took part in the by-elections.

The resignations and subsequent by-elections were criticized by Chinese officials and by the city's Beijing-appointed chief executive, Donald Tsang.

Under the government proposal, if a legislator resigns or dies mid-term, the seat would be taken by the next most popular candidate from the same party or the next best placed candidate.

Opponents held up banners denouncing the bill at Friday's rally and called on Tsang and another senior official promoting the proposal to step down.

A spokesman for the government said after Friday's march that it would listen 'in a humble manner' to people's views but insisted the scrapping of by-elections was legal and constitutional.

Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 under a 'one country, two systems' arrangement, which allows limited democracy and freedoms of expression denied to people elsewhere in China.