Time for Lam to respond to people’s demands with solid actions

HKEJ Editorial November 26, 2019 17:37

The District Council elections on Sunday saw a landslide victory of the pan-democratic camp and a record-breaking voter turnout of 71.2 percent, with the pro-establishment camp suffering a crushing defeat.

Some have framed the DC race as a “de facto referendum” on the administration. After months of unrest, our political environment has become highly volatile. As such, many people saw this election as a channel through which they could express their grievances.

The sweeping victory of the pan-dems on Sunday has not only changed the city's political landscape but will also make the pro-democracy camp a force to reckon with in the 2022 chief executive election, given its additional 117 seats plus the 327 already in its hands in the election committee that will choose the next Hong Kong leader.

After the elections, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor issued a statement, saying: “The HKSAR Government respects the election results. There are various analyses and interpretations in the community in relation to the results, and quite a few are of the view that the results reflect people's dissatisfaction with the current situation and the deep-seated problems in society.”

“The HKSAR Government will listen to the opinions of members of the public humbly and seriously reflect,” she said.

Speaking to media before the Executive Council meeting on Tuesday morning, Lam said that like the experience of other places, “particularly in the United Kingdom after the 2011 Tottenham riots, we are now modeling on that arrangement to set up an independent review committee to look at the causes of the social unrest which has lasted for so long in Hong Kong, to identify the underlying problems, social, economic, or even political, and to recommend measures that the Government should take.”

So what exactly will be the result of Lam's soul-searching and reflection following the elections? The entire society is eagerly awaiting her answer.

Nobody would want to see street violence and clashes erupt across our city again and again without ceasing.

In our view, radical and valiant resistance movements have turned into a political energy that is seeping into our system.

As such, it is time for the government to respond positively with solid actions to the demands of our people’s representatives who were elected with a strong and clear popular mandate to resolve the ongoing political crisis.

Such solid actions include addressing the public call for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry.

This article appeared in the Hong Kong Economic Journal on Nov 26

Translation by Alan Lee with additional reporting

[Chinese version 中文版]

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HKEJ Editorial

Hong Kong Economic Journal