Hong Kong Chief Executive Says Government Will Reflect, Improve After Election Loss

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published November 26, 2019 | 08:06 PM

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Tuesday that the government would reflect and improve following its defeat in the District Council Ordinary Election

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2019) Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Tuesday that the government would reflect and improve following its defeat in the District Council Ordinary Election.

Sunday's District Council elections in Hong Kong were considered to be a barometer of support for both the pro-establishment authorities and opposition candidates after six months of protests.

Opposition candidates won approximately 390 of the 452 District Council seats. Voter turnout was a record high as 71.2 percent of registered voters went to the polls, compared to 47 percent in the previous election in 2015.

In a Tuesday press briefing, Lam stated that it was not her government's place to interpret the result, and highlighted that voters were motivated by a range of societal issues.

"We were aware of the large number of voters coming out to cast a vote, perhaps not only to select a preferred candidate to sit on the District Council, but also to express a view on many issues in society, I would readily accept that, including deficiencies in governance, including unhappiness with the time taken to deal with the current unstable environment, and of course to end violence," Lam said.

Lam added that she understood the elections were highly politicized but admitted that her government would address voters' concerns.

"I said that we would seriously reflect on these views expressed to us and improve governance in the future of our work," Lam remarked.

Hong Kong has faced a wave of protests since June. The unrest was initially triggered by a controversial extradition bill that was officially withdrawn in October, but demonstrators are now going after local authorities for their heavy-handed response to the protests. In total, over 1,500 protesters have been hospitalized after sustaining wounds in clashes, and over 400 police officers have been injured.