Analysis | Despite by-election victory, Hong Kong’s pan-democrats face tough road ahead to city-wide polls in September
Third-place showing by localist candidate Edward Leung signals looming battle for liberal vote
Edward Leung Tin-kei may have lost the the Legislative Council by-election, but the 24-year-old has paved the way for a new era of Hong Kong politics where localist sentiments will increasingly come to matter.
The pan-democrats scored a victory in New Territories East, with Civic Party’s Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu winning the seat and maintaining the bloc’s voting power in the chamber. But the emergence of candidates like Leung signals a looming battle for the city’s pro-democracy vote.
Leung, who represented Hong Kong Indigenous, secured 66,524 of the 434,000 votes – a credible result of about 15.3%.
An advocate of the once-marginalised idea of localism, and even independence, he beat veteran politician Nelson Wong Sing-chi and district councillor Christine Fong Kwok-shan to a place at the podium, behind Yeung and pro-establishment candidate Holden Chow Ho-ding, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress for Hong Kong
READ MORE: ‘People want reform’ – Civic Party’s Alvin Yeung wins hotly contested Hong Kong by-election with 160,880 votes out of 434,000
Yeung described Leung as an opponent he respected, and acknowledged that some of those who voted for him were not entirely satisfied with him, his party or the other pan-democrats.
Watch: Localist candidate Edward Leung Tin-kei attempst to become Hong Kong’s youngest lawmaker
