“This is important,” he said.
Joseph Cheng, a retired professor at City University of Hong Kong, had predicted that pro-democracy candidates would have difficulty making big gains. Pro-Beijing candidates are much better financed, and the district races have traditionally been won on purely local issues, not big questions like democracy.
But voter turnout soared to 71 percent, far surpassing expectations. Typically in district council elections, it is little more than 40 percent. Four years ago, after the 2014 Umbrella Movement increased public interest in politics, turnout climbed to 47 percent. This year, the number of registered voters hit a record.
On Sunday, several prominent pro-Beijing politicians lost their races, among them Michael Tien, a longtime establishment lawmaker. After his defeat, he said the increase in young voters signaled that they were becoming more politically engaged, adding that the government should listen to their voices.
About a hundred revelers celebrated the loss of Junius Ho, a controversial lawmaker many protesters accused of supporting mob attacks against them, with jubilant cheers and champagne.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/24/world/asia/hong-kong-election-results.html
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