• Record turnout for district elections in Hong Kong. The special of Rainews24
  • Hong Kong, a procession for the truth

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November 24, 2019The first results of the district council elections in Hong Kong see democratic forces firmly in the lead. According to the South China Morning Post, 90 of the first 100 seats assigned (out of 452) went to representatives of the pro-democracy camp, while the pro-Beijing pro-democracy Democratic Alliance suffered heavy losses. Among the victorious, the candidate Ronald Tse Man-chak beat his pro-China rival, Wong Wai-kit, considered one of the favorites in the last election, for over 2 thousand votes; Stanley Ho Wai-hong, who was attacked by four men in September, won the Pak Sha Wan seat, while controversial pro-Beijing parliamentarian Junius Ho Kwan-yiu lost re-election for over a thousand votes.

The elections recorded a record turnout: almost 3 million people voted, or 71% of those eligible. The figure is the highest since the city moved from London to Beijing. A test for the pro-Chinese governor Carrie Lam, in the crosshairs of protests in recent months.

The results of the Hong Kong elections for district councils are a "tsunami": this is how the young pro-democracy activist Tommy Cheung Sau-yin celebrated the first results that see democratic forces in the lead. The South China Morning Post reported. Cheung, who defeated reigning opponent Wilson Wong Wai-shun, urged allies in the pro-democracy camp to maintain coordination in the council and in the streets in order to achieve the goal of universal suffrage. Today's elections were seen as a referendum on the pro-democracy movement, more than five months after the start of anti-government protests that shocked the former British colony.