Speaking at today’s press conference, Ms. Lam said the election was scheduled for September 6, but was forced to be postponed due to the impact of Covid-19.
`This decision is to protect everyone’s health,` Ms. Lam said, but did not mention when the election would take place.
Hong Kong currently reports more than 3,000 nCoV infections since January, much lower than other major cities in the world.
According to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Support, at least 68 countries and territories have postponed national or regional elections due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic since February.
The Chinese government on the same day said it supported the Hong Kong government’s decision to postpone the election.
The information about postponing the election came after the city government announced that `umbrella` leader Joshua Wong and 11 other candidates were not eligible to run for the Hong Kong legislature in September.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam spoke at a press conference on July 7.
The Hong Kong government warned that more candidates could be banned from running, saying campaigns to block the law by winning a majority of seats in the Legislative Council or refusing to recognize China’s sovereignty over Hong Kong also
According to election regulations after 1997, when Britain returned Hong Kong to China, half of the 70 seats of the Legislative Council were directly elected.
In the 2016 election, the pro-democracy camp won 29 seats, but then 6 people were disqualified because the Chinese parliament deemed their oath of office inconsistent.
The situation in Hong Kong is controversial after Beijing passed a new security law for the special zone, which criminalizes four types of national security crimes including secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign countries.
Many countries and world organizations have expressed concern about Hong Kong’s security law, warning of the risk of weakening the `one country, two systems` principle.
Ngoc Anh (According to Reuters)
Hannah