The government is budgeting HK$1.2 billion for December’s Legislative Council election. The body these days has 90 members, but only 20 of them are returned by popular vote. Another 30 represent functional constituencies, returned by small-circle groups comprising mainly non-human entities. And 40 are returned by a small-circle ‘election committee’. The whole chamber is ‘patriots-only’, with all nominations subject to a screening process; in 2021 many seats were uncontested and voter turnout for the directly elected seats was barely 30%.
In December, there will almost certainly be no opposition candidates on the ballot, and it is likely the bulk of the public will take little interest. The new-style Legco election is, after all, designed to ensure they have no meaningful participation or input: they’re not allowed to vote for most seats, and the candidates they would want can’t take part anyway. There must be a cheaper way for the executive to install its own legislative branch. And…
Another HK$200 million would be needed for the Election Committee subsector by-elections on September 7.
How much can this cost?
On the subject of diverting tax-payers’ money into performances…
Over 100,000 Japanese seafood and aquatic products scanned for radiation in nearly two years since Hong Kong restricted imports due to the discharge of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant, with exactly ZERO found to exceed WHO safety levels
From China Unofficial Archives – how Lau Chun Kong came to write Dark Night in Yuen Long on the 7/21 attack.
$1.2 BILLION plus a side order of $200 MIL?? I know these are HKDs but still. Someone’s going to have a veeeery nice slush fund for whatever it is he needs and wants.
“How much can THIS cost?”
Security alone will be $500 million.
Then there’s transport, meals, venue and staff costs.
Call it an even $1 billion.
Popular democracy does not come cheap.
The colonial dictatorship was cheaper.
Presumably at least $1b of this is designated for NS related exs.
Reminder: The iron fences around the Central Government Offices didn’t go up until after The Handover. Citizens walked freely through the surrounding courtyards and the car park was used for cheap public parking at night. The hated racist colonialist imperialist oppressors were less afraid of the public than the current lot.
Go up to any municipality, provincial or local city government offices in the mainland. Massive walls, accordion steel gates, PAP soldiers manning the entrances and a myriad of signs proclaiming the “People’s Government” or “Serve the People” (in The Chairman’s writing). Good luck trying to get in.
But this is culturally the way it’s ALWAYS been in the Middle Kingdom. HK’s only now catching up.
Does the $1.2 billion include the rice handouts, seafood banquets and minibuses taking dementia patients to the polls, or is that only going to be indirectly covered by the rest of us?