2019 Hong Kong local elections
The 2019 Hong Kong District Council elections are scheduled to be held on 24 November 2019 for the sixth District Councils of Hong Kong.[1] Elections are to be held to all 18 District Councils with returning 452 members from all directly elected constituencies, out of the total 479 seats.
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All Elected Constituencies 452 (of the 479) seats in all 18 Districts Councils | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Boundary changesEdit
In July 2017, the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) proposed to increase 21 elected seats in 10 District Councils after a review on the number of elected seats for each District Council having regard to the population forecast:[1]
- 1 new seat for each Kowloon City, Yau Tsim Mong and Tsuen Wan District Councils;
- 2 new seats for each Sham Shui Po, Kwai Tsing, Tuen Mun and Sai Kung District Councils;
- 3 new seats for each Kwun Tong and Sha Tin District Councils; and
- 4 new seats for the Yuen Long District Council.[1]
According to the recommendations, the total number of elected seats for the 2019 elections will be increased by 21 from 431 to 452.
Gerrymandering concernsEdit
Some pro-democracy District Councillors accused the EAC of gerrymandering in which the borders of their constituencies were altered "unreasonably" which might affect their odds should they seek another term. EAC chairman Barnabas Fung claimed that the proposal was purely the result of an objective calculation. "Factors with political implications would definitely not be taken into consideration," Fung said.[2]
BackgroundEdit
Project StormEdit
In April 2017, Occupy Central co-founder Benny Tai proposed the "Project Storm" to win the majority of the District Council seats for the pro-democrats in the coming election. He stated that by winning a majority of the some 400 District Council seats, pro-democrats could gain an additional 117 seats of the District Council subsectors on the 1,200-member Election Committee which elects the Chief Executive. Tai believed that by making it harder for Beijing to manipulate in the Chief Executive election, it would compel Beijing to restart the stalled political reform after its restrictive proposal was voted down in 2015.[3]
Extradition bill controversyEdit
In mid 2019, the Carrie Lam administration pushed forward the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 to establish a mechanism for transfers of fugitives not only for Taiwan, Mainland China and Macau, which are not covered in the existing laws for a homicide case in Taiwan.[4] The proposed bill raised grave concerns from various sectors of the society including lawyers, journalists, businesses, as well as foreign governments, fearing the heightened risk that Hong Kong citizens and foreign nationals passing through the city, without the safeguards of the local courts, could be sent for trial to Mainland China, where courts are under Chinese political control.[5]
In June, rounds of demonstrations were attended by record breaking of hundreds of thousands to nearly two millions people forced the government to eventually suspend the bill. The pro-Beijing parties who were among the strongest advocates of the bill worried their support of the controversial bill as well as the abrupt U-turn would cost them votes in the upcoming District Council elections and next year's Legislative Council election, repeating their devastating defeat in the 2003 District Council elections following the highly controversial national security legislation.[6]
Current standings of the District CouncilsEdit
By political campEdit
| Council | Current control |
Largest party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central & Western | Pro-Beijing | Tied | |
| Wan Chai | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| Eastern | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| Southern | Pro-Beijing | Democratic | |
| Yau Tsim Mong | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| Sham Shui Po | NOC | ADPL | |
| Kowloon City | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| Wong Tai Sin | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| Kwun Tong | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| Tsuen Wan | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| Tuen Mun | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| Yuen Long | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| North | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| Tai Po | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| Sai Kung | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| Sha Tin | Pro-Beijing | NPP/CF | |
| Kwai Tsing | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
| Islands | Pro-Beijing | DAB | |
By political partyEdit
As of 11 August 2019:
| Council/ Party |
CW | WC | E | S | YTM | SSP | KC | WTS | KT | TW | TM | YL | N | TP | SK | ST | KWT | I | TOTAL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAB | 5 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 117 | ||
| FTU | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 27 | ||||||||||
| BPA/KWND | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 21 | ||||||||||||
| NPP | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 13 | |||||||||||||||
| Liberal | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||||||||||||
| Roundtable | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| NTAS | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Civil Force | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| FLU | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| FPHE | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ind & others | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 23 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 128 | ||
| Pro-Beijing | 10 | 11 | 25 | 12 | 16 | 11 | 20 | 16 | 28 | 15 | 22 | 36 | 18 | 15 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 327 | ||
| Democratic | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 37 | ||||||
| ND | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 13 | |||||||||||||||
| ADPL | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 | |||||||||||||||||
| Civic | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 | |||||||||||||
| Labour | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| NWSC | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| CGPLTKO | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| DA | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ind & others | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 36 | ||||||
| Pro-democrats | 5 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 118 | ||
| KEC | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| CNU/STCN | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ind & others | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Localists | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| Others | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| Vacant | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Councillors | 15 | 13 | 35 | 17 | 19 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 37 | 20 | 30 | 41 | 22 | 21 | 29 | 39 | 30 | 18 | 458 | ||
List of target seatsEdit
| DAB targets | Votes required | Swing required | Democratic targets | Votes required | Swing required | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chi Choi (Democratic) | 5 | 0.06% | Wah Fu South (Ind) | 3 | 0.05% |
| 2 | Hing Fong (Democratic) | 72 | 0.89% | Wah Kwai (DAB) | 47 | 0.43% |
| 3 | Tsui Wan (Ind) | 57 | 1.28% | Shek Yam (DAB) | 54 | 0.47% |
| 4 | Shun Tin (Democratic) | 100 | 1.36% | Centre Street (Ind) | 33 | 0.50% |
| 5 | Kam To (Ind) | 137 | 1.87% | Ting On (Ind) | 62 | 0.73% |
| 6 | Tsuen Wan Centre (Democratic) | 161 | 2.04% | Belcher (Ind) | 69 | 0.73% |
| NPP targets | Votes required | Swing required | ADPL targets | Votes required | Swing required | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tai Koo Shing East (Ind) | 87 | 0.83% | Ma Tau Wai (DAB) | 45 | 0.42% |
| 2 | Kornhill (Civic) | 92 | 0.92% | Lai Kok (DAB/FTU) | 99 | 0.96% |
| FTU targets | Votes required | Swing required | Civic targets | Votes required | Swing required | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ma Hang Chung (Democratic) | 45 | 0.66% | Tung Chung North (NPP) | 32 | 0.82% |
| Pro-Beijing independent targets | Votes required | Swing required | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sai Kung North (BPA) | 20 | 0.49% |
| 2 | Whampoa West (Ind) | 39 | 0.47% |
| 3 | Mid Levels East (Democratic) | 55 | 0.92% |
ReferencesEdit
- ^ a b c "Review of the Number of Elected Seats for the Sixth-Term District Councils" (PDF). Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
- ^ "Election chiefs bring in 21 new Hong Kong district council seats, sparking gerrymandering concerns". South China Morning Post. 21 July 2018.
- ^ "Hong Kong Occupy co-founder Benny Tai unveils 'Project Storm' to win more district council seats for pan-democrats". South China Morning Post. 30 April 2017.
- ^ "Fears over Hong Kong-China extradition plans". BBC. 8 April 2019.
- ^ "Is HK tilting from a semi-democracy to a semi-dictatorship?". Ejinsight. 23 May 2019.
- ^ "Suspension of Hong Kong extradition bill is embarrassing to pro-establishment allies and could cost them at election time, camp insiders reveal". South China Morning Post. 16 June 2019.