September election postponed to late 2021<\/b>
\nHong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Friday announced that she is delaying the election planned for September 6 because of mounting concern about the coronavirus pandemic.
She said the election would be held on September 5,2021.
\u201cToday I announce the most difficult decision in the last seven months\u2026 to postpone the Legislative Council election,\u201d Lam told reporters.
\u201cThe epidemic is posing a serious risk to Hong Kong. The election is unique, the biggest in Hong Kong,\u201d Lam said, adding that going through with the election would pose a risk to a great number of people.
A group of 22 lawmakers issued a statement accusing the Hong Kong administration of using the outbreak as an excuse to delay the vote.
\u201cOur resistance will continue on and we hope the world can stand with us in the upcoming uphill battle,\u201d Joshua Wong, one of the city\u2019s most prominent pro-democracy figures, told reporters. \u201cThey can\u2019t kill us all.\u201d
A political and legal controversy
DW correspondent Phoebe Kong said the pro-democracy activists believed the pandemic was being used as an excuse to delay the election.
\u201cThey said this was a clampdown on the opposition movement,\u201d Kong said. \u201cThe postponement of the election will spark a huge not only political and also legal controversy, including how the local parliament is going to run.\u201d
Hong Kong has seen a surge in infections since the beginning of July but has still recorded a relatively low tally of infections overall.
The pro-democracy opposition scored an overwhelming victory in low-level elections last year and was hoping to capitalize on that momentum to win a majority in the directly elected part of the legislature. Such a majority would give opposition members the ability to slow bills from passing.
The move comes after opposition candidates \u2014 including Wong \u2014 were disqualified from standing earlier this week. The exclusion has been criticized as a political purge.
The opposition had expected to make gains on the back of widespread resentment about the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s imposition of a controversial new security law. The legislation \u2014 to punish what China defines as secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign powers \u2014 was widely criticized by opponents and Western countries as damaging to citizens\u2019 rights.
Among the provisions was the possibility for the Hong Kong government to extradite criminal suspects to mainland China. The law was imposed on June 30, since when there has been a marked crackdown on opposition activity.
Critics say the new law is inconsistent with freedoms that were promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Supporters say it will restore some stability to Hong Kong after a year of protests.
Rep. Matt Gaetz has filed a criminal complaint against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for lying to Congress under oath when he claimed there was no political bias at the social media network.
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