"Voters in Hong Kong are heading to the polls to elect new lawmakers under China's patriots only rules, though government efforts to drive turnout have been overshadowed by anger over the city's handling of a major deadly fire. Polls opened early on Sunday across the autonomous Chinese city to select 90 legislators, though only 20 of those seats are directly elected."
"Al Jazeera's Laura Westbrook, reporting from Hong Kong, said there had been some questions whether the voting should go ahead in light of the tragedy, believed to be the world's deadliest residential building fire since 1980. But Hong Kong's chief executive, John Lee, said the vote should go ahead, as a way to maintain stability, and that he needed the newly elected legislature to help push through reforms as well as ensure the recovery and reconstruction efforts can move ahead quickly, Westbrook said."
Hong Kong is holding legislative elections to choose 90 lawmakers under a patriots-only system, with only 20 seats directly elected. Government efforts to boost turnout face public anger over a late-November blaze at Wang Fuk Court that killed at least 159 people. Political campaigning was paused after the fire and questions arose about whether voting should proceed. Chief Executive John Lee urged voters to participate, announced a judge-led independent inquiry into the fire, and said a new legislature is needed to pass reforms and accelerate recovery and reconstruction efforts.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]