The inaugural sessions of an unprecedented lineup of 39 election forums run by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government opened in the New Territories South West and New Territories North East constituencies on Tuesday.
This follows the government’s confirming the eligibility of all 161 nominees bidding to run in this year’s e elections to the SAR’s eighth Legislative Council to be held on Dec 7.
From the pool of candidates, 51 of them will go head-to-head for 20 directly elected seats that are allocated two per geographical constituency across the city; 60 hopefuls will vie for 30 functional constituency seats, while the other 50 will contest the 40-strong Election Committee constituency.
Designed to cover all electoral fronts, the forums bring contenders and voters together for a direct, structured exchange, featuring policy presentation, question-and-answer sessions, and policy debates that allow candidates to articulate and parse their political platforms, core concerns, and electoral pledges.
Starting early Tuesday morning, the first of such forums at the Tsuen Wan Town Hall saw five contenders from the district running in the geographical constituency -- Chan Wing-yan, Kwok Fu-yung, Lo Yuen-ting, Cheung Man-ka and Mok Yee-ki.
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai said the candidates faced an “outpouring” public turnout and a “bustling” mood.
According to Tsang, residents who attended the district-specific forums had been selected through a random sampling of local voters, with live broadcasts enabling engagement on a citywide scale, and the campaign team for each candidate was capped at 50 members to ensure fairness.
The forum’s goal is to provide space for voters to learn and engage with candidates’ respective political platforms ahead of the elections, thereby facilitating informed choices on polling day he said. The authorities will refine the process based on experience from these initial sessions to enhance engagement, as well as a safe and orderly arrangement.
The session for the New Territories North East constituencies will open at 4:30pm on Tuesday.
Similar forums will continue through the end of this month, with sessions for the New Territories North and the New Territories North West constituencies slated for Wednesday, and the remainder of the series to be held daily in the coming weeks.
