MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): Fair and impartial elections are very important to Hong Kong. With the destruction of many core values of Hong Kong over these few months, we must firmly uphold our core value of fairness and impartiality which is one of the most important ones.
What is fairness and impartiality? Actually, numerous explanations are available, but as far as election is concerned, I think there are at least three major principles. First, there should be sound legislation for the electoral system; second, the candidates should be able to canvass for votes freely and carry out electioneering activities without fear; and third, voters should be able to cast their votes at the polling stations on the day of election with freedom and―something which is also very important―without fear.
Regarding the first principle, that is legislation for the electoral system, I think Hong Kong has been doing pretty well, and on some occasions, I even consider that the authorities have gone too far. For example, the authorities would conduct thorough investigations even into cases involving minor errors or omissions in the returns on election expenses. Every time when there was an election, a few hundred cases of this nature would arise and every one of them would be investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (“ICAC”) and the Registration and Electoral Office (“REO”). Is this really necessary? Recently, the situation has slightly improved as there has been an adjustment to the limits prescribed for rectifying minor errors or omissions in election returns. For example, there is an increase from $500 to $5,000 in the limit for the functional constituency elections of the Legislative Council other than that of the District Council (second) functional constituency. To me, this is a progress made.
Overall speaking, I consider the legislation for election appropriate in Hong Kong. However, when it comes to candidates’ freedom in electioneering and whether voters can cast their votes without fear, I think these two principles have been significantly undermined, mainly because of the impact brought by the riots and the black-clad people. A look at some figures will tell us this is how things stand. The offices of many District Council (“DC”) members have been vandalized or even destroyed by fire. Though accurate figures are not available as yet, I know that at least some 150 offices of DC members have been repeatedly damaged. Definitely, the damage will seriously affect the election campaigns of the relevant candidates, thus constituting unfairness. For instance, the relevant candidates might originally have a few hundred hours to canvass voters, but now, they find themselves having significantly less time to do so. Meanwhile, their rivals can freely conduct election campaigns when they are still unable to troll for votes. So, is this fair?
Secondly, we have seen assaults against a number of candidates. Some candidates are too scared to set up street booths. Under such circumstances, will the election be fair? What is more, some candidates stated that they dared not put up publicity materials such as posters, because these materials would be torn away, defaced or cut once displayed. In the past, many members of the public would volunteer to put up election posters for candidates, but now, nobody is willing to do so. Nevertheless, some shops will still put up the posters of certain candidates in order to get protection from these “charms”. Under such circumstances, do you think we will have a fair and impartial election?
That said, I think it is not the greatest threat to a fair and impartial election. What constitutes the greatest threat is the fear among many voters about going out to vote despite their desire to do so. A radio host actually made an appeal to the public on the airwaves and an online social platform, urging people to prevent their elderly family members from voting by either keeping their identity cards, or inviting them to travel abroad during this period. If the Government, especially ICAC, really consider elections as something so important that it will institute investigations or even prosecutions against candidates for failure to submit receipts while filing returns on election expenses, why is there no investigation conducted against the radio host who made such a blatant appeal that would apparently affect the election results? As I know, someone has already lodged a complaint about him. I hope the relevant authorities will conduct an investigation into this matter rather than just thrusting it aside like, I mean, ignoring the big issues but pursuing the minor ones persistently. In my opinion, REO and ICAC should spare no efforts in investigating this kind of acts that are against the law.
In addition, I have also seen some utterly unacceptable and saddening episodes. An old lady got slapped while trying to go to the office of a political party to seek help or make enquiries. This is actually something inconceivable to Hong Kong people. Had this episode taken place before the riots, no one would have believed that it was true. In the past, if someone told you that Hong Kong would become what it is right now, would you believe him? How could it be possible that someone would hit an old lady in her eighties? Impossible. But nowadays, things like this can actually happen. Will the elderly then feel psychologically pressured to avoid going to the polling stations to vote? This is something that the Government needs to deal with.
Assuming that all these problems have been resolved, can the Government ensure that there will not be any human chain surrounding the polling stations to prevent voters from entering to vote? Rumours have it that voters need to vote at the polling stations before 8 o’clock as chaos will ensue afterwards, making voters unable to cast their votes then. Will this really happen? This kind of rumours will indeed result in unfairness in elections.
Here, apart from calling on the Government to do its job properly, I also wish to make an appeal to Honourable colleagues who are nowhere to be seen in this Chamber right now, because I know they are very influential and they are all … though they have not severed ties with the black-clad people and the rioters. They are aware that they are fairly influential. As I can see, they are often present at the scenes of protests, standing side by side with the protesters in their fight and even rushing to the front to remove obstacles for the protesters to facilitate their actions. I hope these Members can bear in mind the interest of Hong Kong. In fact, as Members―this is what I always have in mind―they must be keen to serve the community, but are they serving and helping Hong Kong, or acting against the interest of Hong Kong now? If they are determined to serve Hong Kong, they should ensure that the election will be held in a fair manner by persuading those black-clad people to take one day off from coming out to stir up trouble then, so as to allow Hong Kong to show … and to give Hong Kong a guarantee that they will not come out to cause trouble. It is the only way by which there can be a fair election.
I believe the opposition camp is full of confidence that they will win the election for sure now. With their overwhelming victory in DC Election, they will gain the hundred-odd seats on the Election Committee, thereby having an influence in the elections of the Legislative Council and the Chief Executive. I believe this is their smug calculation. Well, I also believe that they are going to win a massive vote, so I hope that they will, at least, pretend to be fair and come out to call on or lobby the protesters to give a guarantee through the civilian press conference that they will refrain from causing disturbance to this election and take a break on that day. Can they do something like this?
Even if the 24 of you are not going to make any mobilization effort in the background, can you jointly make a public statement to guarantee that you will do nothing to influence this election and will try your best to convince all your supporters to refrain from creating trouble like blocking roads, besieging polling stations, and carrying out despicable assaults, thereby allowing Hong Kong to return to peace that whole day, from the beginning of the poll till the end of the counting of votes? Can you people do so? If you can, I will hold you in respect again.
Now, I have no respect for them at all because they have completely disappointed us. I mean, they will do anything for the sake of getting votes, lacking even the basic human morals. What kind of persons are they? Members of the public are furious simply because of people like them.
Although we can see such an appalling situation that even on the surface, there already exist many absolutely unfair … I wish to highlight one point again. During this period of riots, i.e. since June, I have kept telling the Government the important fact that there is actually too much false news and false information. Their presence has made many of those originally studying at school consider themselves obliged to do something for “justice”. They perceive those activities to be helpful to Hong Kong and capable of securing themselves a better future.
The propaganda commonly used by the opposition force is that they … Those behind the opposition force are, of course, adults―they may be people in their thirties to forties, or fifties to sixties, but I cannot be sure about this―and they always say, “It is a blessing that you youngsters come out to help and do what we dared not do in the past. So, we are really grateful to you all and see you all as heroes.” Their words have galvanized the youngsters into charging forward as their lackeys. Being in their senior years or in middle age, these people, I believe, should be well aware that they are pushing the youngsters to their doom. These youngsters will be put behind bars, suffering from the loss of their future prospects.
At present, a few thousand people have been arrested and we still have no idea what sentences will be imposed on them later. We are really saddened and agonized by the fact that the youngsters are so simple-minded and some are even supported by their parents to do those things, let alone the possible sentences they will receive. What is the consequence as we now see? Apparently, these youngsters suffer from the loss of their future prospects. I believe, the possibility of an amnesty is rather remote, and I do not subscribe to the idea of granting an amnesty either, as this will only serve to encourage more people to make more and more radical moves, betting on the prospect of an amnesty. For this reason, it is impossible to grant an amnesty. Also, it is something that runs counter to the spirit of the rule of law in Hong Kong.
Those adults came out to speak about how grateful they were to the youngsters who had done something they dared not do in the old days. May I ask them to examine their consciences? If they still have the basic human morals, they should stand in the front to shield these youngsters from bullets, do time on these youngsters’ behalf, and do things that they dared not do in their youth. Why did they hide themselves behind the scene to provoke the youngsters, causing these youngsters to suffer severely? Most regrettably, these youngsters have not yet come to their senses. Many of them only think that they have been betrayed without knowing that the very betrayers are those who provoked them behind the scene.
That day when I was at a hospital, a woman rushed to me and asked, “What have these youngsters got now? What have they got after all these sacrifices they made for Hong Kong?” Of course, I did say something to comfort her, but I thought to myself: should she not pursue the matter with those who prompted the youngsters to go out and promised them that they would get what should be theirs? I could only relay her views to the Government and advise the Government on what it should do. Whom should she actually pursue the matter with? Those Members or powerful figures who incited the youngsters to go out behind the scene? The media that give biased and distorted coverage with no regard for principles, and the hosts of some programmes that make lampoons? What can be done to resolve the present state of affairs if the reason for the youngsters to have done wrong is their long-existing lack of understanding of the real root cause of Hong Kong’s fall? So, sometimes, I am really exasperated because the youngsters are not the only ones who have been provoked. Their parents and people who have most frequent contact with those persons have similarly been provoked. This is indeed the saddest thing of all, and unfortunately, many people have not yet come round.
However, I think I need to talk about another matter more―given the time constraint―that is, despite the many apparently unfair and unjust situations, I still consider it necessary for the election to take place as scheduled. I mean, it is imperative for the Government to ensure that the election can be held as scheduled. Why? First, the Government should never give in to threats from others easily. Why does someone make threats to it? It is because they believe that their threats against the Government will make it give in. Do not think that giving in is a solution, as the other side will only become more insatiable. This is just the political reality. What will happen once the Government gives in? They will only keep pressing on with their demands until the Government cannot do anything further.
That being the case, if the Government gives in, it will only give fuel to violence. Notwithstanding, what worries me most is that regardless of the Government’s decision, the opposition force will blame whatever goes wrong on the Government all the same. These days, we have all witnessed how capable the opposition force is in blaming the Government and the pro-establishment camp. And over these few months, we have seen clearly their world-class propaganda which confuses right with wrong and confounds good with evil. Also, having arranged numerous actors to play different roles on different occasions, they have distorted the truth and scandalized everything. Their capability in this regard has already attained perfection and reached a world-class level. I am worried that even if the Government and the pro-establishment camp make considerable efforts for the election in this unfair and unfavorable environment, the opposition force will still blame them eventually. Please do not take me as a doomsayer. My prediction is that the Government will end up being blamed by them for sure. In the end, the Government will definitely be depicted as a villain that has pre-arranged everything well ahead and then puts on an act to call off the election on various excuses. Even though they think they will win a sweeping victory in the election, they will still vilify others. This has always been their modus operandi.
Now, all I can do is to state it at the outset. If anything apparently unfair to other candidates takes place on that day, the Government has to make a very difficult decision. It really should not insist on carrying on with the election because it is indeed impossible to have a fair and impartial election which is accountable to everyone. In this case, the Government needs to do its public relations work with the media properly. Come on, please stop commending me or a certain person for having done a good job or whatever. What is the point of saying all these if the Government fails to make improvement?
Concerning the current situation as a whole, what has actually gone wrong? What is wrong with Hong Kong? It is the failure to stop false information and false news in a timely manner. The media is so formidable that whenever the Government offers explanations to us, they will sentimentalize everything to transform fear into hatred and anger. Has the Government ever noticed this? Just try to have some communication with those “yellow ribbon” and you will find that many of them are filled with anger―I do not know why they are so angry though―which, according to some people, is due to certain problems in our system. But I think this is not the cause of it. They have actually been … like being under a spell or having joined a cult, they are filled with anger.
Actually, it pains us a lot to see this because they are also Hong Kong people and were our friends before. Why have they got under a spell? The reason is that they have completely fallen for that kind of one-sided propaganda. Anyone who has completely fallen for this kind of propaganda will definitely be very angry, because they will consider everything as being against and unfair to them. They will also deem that Hong Kong has been deprived of all freedoms and become a place where they can see no future. Immersing in this kind of propaganda, these people are unable to see other information.
In light of this, both before and after the DC Election, the Government ought to pick itself up and make the best preparation for disseminating information through different channels―be it press briefings, dissemination of information every several hours, statements by the Chief Executive, or statements by you, buddy, Patrick NIP―as the Government really needs to shoulder this responsibility and stop being the underdog. The opposite side is like a stocky man who is superior to you, whereas you are like an infant that is no match for him, but still, you have to put up a struggle at least. Buddy, at the very least, you have to try your best to fight back. Only by doing so will you―the Government―be regarded by people as having done your best. You are the underdog simply because the opposite side is “overweight”. Everyone will remain supportive of you. If you continue with your inaction and make feeble effort to carry out your duties, you are destined to doom.
I hope that the Government will do its job properly (The buzzer sounded) … Thank you, President.