Hong Kong leader says election postponed, in blow to pro-democracy camp
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Friday that
elections for the city legislature will be postponed from Sept. 6 due to a
spike in coronavirus cases, dealing a major blow to the city’s pro-democracy
opposition.
The opposition was hoping to win a historic majority
in the Legislative Council, where only half the seats are directly elected and
the other half stacked with pro-Beijing figures.
Lam’s move comes after 12 pro-democracy candidates
were disqualified from running in the poll, on reasons including perceived
subversive intentions, opposition to a new national security law and
campaigning to win a legislation-blocking majority.
The poll would have been Hong Kong’s first official
vote after Beijing imposed a sweeping new security law that critics say aims to
quash dissenting voices in China’s freest city and bring the semi-autonomous
territory on a more authoritarian path.
