Hong Kong election turnout in focus amid anger over deadly fire

HONG KONG — Hong Kong voter turnout will be in focus in an election on Sunday, with the population still grieving and traumatized after the worst fire in nearly 80 years that has seen authorities scramble to avoid a broader public backlash.

Security was tight in the northern district of Tai Po, close to the border with mainland China, where the fire engulfed seven towers as the city pressed ahead with elections for the Legislative Council, in which only candidates vetted as "patriots" by the China-backed Hong Kong government may run.

Residents are angry over the blaze that killed at least 159 people and took nearly two days to extinguish. The authorities say substandard building materials used in renovating a high-rise housing estate were responsible for fueling the fire.

Eager to contain the public dismay, authorities have launched criminal and corruption investigations into the blaze and roughly 100 police patrolled the area around Wang Fuk Court, the site of the fire, early on Sunday.

An elderly resident living near the charred buildings, in his late 70s and surnamed Cheng, who was out for a morning walk, said he wouldn't vote.

"I'm very upset by the great fire," he said. "This is a result of a flawed government. ... There is not a healthy system now, and I won't vote to support those pro-establishment politicians who failed us."

He declined to give his full name, saying he feared authorities would target those who criticize the government.

At a memorial site near the burned-out residential development, a sign said authorities plan to clear the area after the election concludes close to midnight, suggesting government anxiety amid a groundswell of public anger.

Beijing has said it would crack down on any "anti-China" protest in the wake of the fire and warned against using the disaster to "disrupt Hong Kong."

China's national security office in Hong Kong warned senior editors with a number of foreign media outlets at a meeting in the city on Saturday not to spread "false information" or "smear" government efforts to deal with the fire.

'Everyone should cast a critical vote'

The blaze is a major test of Beijing's grip on the former British colony, which it has transformed under a national security law after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.

An election overhaul in 2021 also mandated that only pro-Beijing "patriots" could run for the global financial hub's 90-seat legislature and, analysts say, further reduced the space for meaningful democratic participation.

Publicly inciting a vote boycott was criminalized in 2021 as part of the sweeping changes that effectively squeezed out pro-democracy voices in Hong Kong. Pro-democracy voters, who traditionally made up about 60% of Hong Kong's electorate, have since shunned elections.

The number of registered voters for Sunday's polls, 4.13 million, has dropped for the fourth consecutive year since 2021, when a peak of 4.47 million people were registered.

Seven people had been arrested as of Thursday for inciting others not to vote, the city's anti-corruption body said.

Hong Kong and Chinese officials have stepped up calls in the run-up to the election for people to vote.

"I stress here that everyone should cast a critical vote, because this vote represents a vote to reform the system, represents a vote to safeguard the affected residents," Hong Kong leader John Lee said on Friday.

Hong Kong's national security office urged residents on Thursday to "actively participate in voting," saying it was critical in supporting reconstruction efforts by the government after the fire.

"Every voter is a stakeholder in the homeland of Hong Kong," the office said in a statement. "If you truly love Hong Kong, you will vote sincerely."

The last Legislative Council elections in 2021 recorded the lowest voter turnout, 30.2%, since Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997.

Contributing: Jessie Pang

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