Opinion | Who’s standing for Legco? Too few women, too many old boys

With moderate old-timers seeking a comeback, awkward contests indicative of the stronghold of the old boys’ club and a lack of women, Beijing should see this as making a strong case for greater diversity

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Banners for the Legislative Council general election nomination period are seen outside Hong Kong government headquarters in Tamar on November 9. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 6:45am, 15 Nov 2021Updated: 2:20pm, 1 Dec 2021

In the last Legislative Council election in 2016, there were 289 valid nominations, out of which 213 candidates contested the 35 geographical constituency seats.

Under the new and improved system, there are fewer valid nominations, but it doesn’t mean less competition. There are fewer people in the running for more lawmaker seats since Legco has been enlarged from 70 seats to 90.

Candidates, however, are no longer running on what used to be long nomination lists in the geographical constituencies so there are no longer hopeless “hopefuls” – those so far down the list there is no way they could win a seat – adding to the headcount.

And as the Post reported, Beijing does not want walkovers, which had previously plagued the trade-based functional constituencies; for the first time in history, Hong Kong has no uncontested seat.

We are also seeing some old-timers attempting a comeback in this election. Former lawmaker Nelson Wong Sing-chi, previously a long-time Democratic Party member, is contesting the seat in the New Territories North East geographical constituency. Wong was kicked out of the Democratic Party in 2015 for wanting to petition others to conditionally accept a Beijing-decreed political reform proposal.

Nelson Wong announcing his bid for the 2018 legislative by-election in January that year; he did not win. Photo: Winson Wong

Continuing to go against the grain of the pan-democrat parties, which have apparently decided to sit out this election, Wong decided to run, revealing that Beijing’s liaison office had approached him not once, but twice, about his intention to stand. A pro-establishment heavyweight helped him secure the nominations he needed. So Wong, obviously, is a Beijing-accepted opposition member.