News / China

Hong Kong legislature votes against controversial election bill

Thursday, 18 June 2015 7:21 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 18 June 2015 7:22 AM ]

This photo shows Hong Kong lawmakers leaving the legislative council after a vote on a controversial election bill, June 18, 2015. (© AFP)

Hong Kong’s legislative council has rejected an unpopular election bill that was proposed by China last year and had triggered months of protests in the administrative region of China.

28 members of the legislature voted on Thursday against the proposal after two days of debate in the chamber.

About 30 pro-establishment lawmakers also walked out of the chamber less than a minute ahead of the vote, not casting any votes, which amounted to a “no” vote in the records.

The establishment needed to obtain at least 47 of the votes to get the proposal passed.

“Eight votes out of 70! It sends a clear message to the central government and the international community that a new reform should be launched immediately,” said the chairwoman of the Democratic Party, Emily Lau Wai-hing, after the voting.

The bill, proposed by Beijing last August, would have seen Hong Kong residents choose their new chief executive in 2017 from among the two or three candidates vetted and approved by China.

Protesters had been criticizing the bill since its introduction, claiming it would lead to a “fake democracy” that failed to deliver Beijing’s promised universal suffrage for Hong Kong.

This file photo shows a protester waving a flag that reads ‘Hong Kong Independence.’

Pro-government groups as well as protesters were scheduled to stage rallies outside the complex since Wednesday as the bill was being debated inside the complex.

Since last August, when the bill was introduced, mass rallies and camp-ins have been staged across Hong Kong, paralyzing some streets and parts of the city's business district for months.

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