More Drama on the Hustings

Are you clear on who you're going to go vote for on Sunday?

This year's Legislative Council elections are already shaping up to be a wild ride -- and we haven't even voted yet.

First of all the Election Commission barred six people from becoming candidates because of their pro-independence views.

Then Ken Chow Wing-kan of the Liberal Party claimed a higher force was threatening him and people close to him -- a force so strong that it is even more powerful than the Liaison Office or the triads.

He was so scared he fled Hong Kong and doesn't plan to come back from the UK until after September 4.

Five pan-democrat candidates have suspended their campaigns

Now we have five pan-democrats pulled out of the race in the hopes of consolidating the pan-democratic vote.

The five are: Paul Zimmerman, Kalvin Ho Kai-ming, Sumly Chan Yuen-sum, Chu Chi-kin, and Suzanne Wu Sui-shan.

It seems so strange -- and desperate -- to do it three days before the vote -- why couldn't they have coordinated among themselves earlier? Surely they would have known that the sheer number of political parties was going to further dilute the vote especially for democratic-leaning parties, compared to one big pro-Beijing one (the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong).

And also, on Sunday, their names will still be on the ballot, so stopping their campaign isn't going to really help the situation at all, but further confuse people about who they want to vote for.

The chain of events started when Labour Party chairwoman Wu, contesting the Kowloon East constituency, said she wanted to set an example for her pro-democratic allies to "focus on the whole picture".

Zimmerman and fellow independent Chu, who beat DAB lawmaker Christopher Chung Shu-kun, stopped electioneering.

"I hope you will all consider your vote for democrats who are almost in," said Zimmerman in a statement, suggesting his supporters switch to Demosisto candidate Nathan Law Kwun-chung.

Then when it came to the functional constituency, where voters can also choose one candidate, two others dropped out, Civic Party's Chan, who funded his own campaign, as the party initially opposed his electioneering, announced he would stop campaigning after he had canvassed the Central area.

"[We] urge voters to utilize their wisdom and ensure that the pan-democrats retain three super seats," said party chairman Alan Leong Kah-kit.

Ho of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood also quit the race for a super seat.

The latest poll figures show the pan-democrats could only win 11 seats in the geographical constituencies, which is down from 18 in 2012, meaning they could lose their veto power.

Perhaps it's an indication the public is tired of the pan-democrats' filibustering, which caused a major backlog of bills from being passed in a shorter period of time.

From an observer point of view, this latest twist to the otherwise already exciting race, is making it hard for all of us to catch up, but also who do we vote for?

What else is going to happen from Friday evening to Sunday morning?!

Mysterious Force Derails Chow's Legco Run

Ken Chow claims forces beyond Hong Kong's jurisdiction threatened him

Things are getting murkier in the case of Liberal Party candidate Ken Chow Wing-kan, who dropped out of the Legislative Council race, claiming he feared threats from a source "outside Hong Kong" that was more powerful than Beijing's Liaison Office or the triads.

That certainly raised eyebrows.

In an interview with Next Magazine, Chow said there was no way local authorities could look into the matter because "The power does not come from Hong Kong. How can they investigate. It's beyond their jurisdiction".

However, Chow, who was running for New Territories West, refused to divulge who made the threats against him.

"I can only say it's a very powerful force. The pressure [I face] is far greater than any individual or political party [can impose]," he said.

Chow dropped out last Thursday during a televised debate, saying he did not want those close to him get into "high level troubles".

Junius Ho denies knowledge of threats made by his volunteer

The Independent Commission Against Corruption has launched an investigation following complaints filed by several political parties.

After the televised debate, Chow released a recording from a volunteer who worked for pro-Beijing candidate Junius Ho Kwan-yiu.

In it, a man's voice can be heard suggesting mobilizing several dozen people to "chase after" Chow before the election forum. Ho has denied any knowledge of this plan or recording.

During the Next Magazine interview, Chow denied his withdrawal had to do with the recording.

"The political climate in Hong Kong right now is very scary. This could be the last election where there are choices," he said.

He was asked if he was worried about being disappeared, and Chow replied that is why he went to the UK and not Thailand, Myanmar or China.

Chow said he would return to Hong Kong after the election and would say more if people were interested.

Of course we are!

The booksellers' saga adds more fears about people's rights

It will be interesting to see if some people do vote for Chow on Sunday, as he cannot withdraw his candidacy after it has been approved. His own party doesn't even know what happened.

We had the incident of the missing Hong Kong booksellers being intimidated, and now a political candidate fears running because of some strong forces that seem to threaten him and anyone close to him.

Chow is not a separatist or a localist.

What is going on?

But we probably won't know until after September 4. This year's race is definitely a bizarre one and we hope it's not a sign of things to come.

If anything, this incident should encourage the public to get out and exercise their right to vote without fear.

Dramatic Twist to Elections

Ken Chow claims there were threats against him if he campaigned further

There is over a week to go before the Legislative Council elections and things have already gotten bizarre with one candidate running in the highly contested New Territories West abruptly announced he was not running anymore during an election debate on Cable TV last night.

Liberal Party candidate Ken Chow Wing-kan said he feared for the safety of people close to him after he received threats that 20 or 30 people would "pursue" him at an election forum "until he had no mood for such forums anymore".

"As I don't want my loved ones to be in even higher level of trouble or pay any price, I will suspend all campaign activities for getting voters' support," he said reading a statement as part of his opening speech.

Junius Ho says the claims against him are to smear him

He then bowed in front of the camera to apologize to friends and volunteers who supported him.

Later Chow even distributed the voice clip of the threat to the media.

Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, another candidate running in the same geographic constituency, admitted the voice on the clip was one of his volunteers, and immediately claimed he had no knowledge of the apparent threat.

Ho hit back, claiming Chow was trying to smear him, as both seem to be fighting for the same voters. Ho also questioned how Chow managed to get a copy of the clip, that was part of a Whatsapp group chat.

"Where did he get hold of the clip? They were not talking to you. Why are you overreacting like this? You told the media you were scared but you said you would not talk anymore... Isn't he smearing [me]?" asked Ho.

But there's no way to contact Chow to find out more -- he has left Hong Kong and apparently won't be back until after the elections.

Last week E Weekly Magazine reported someone tried to bribe Chow with HK$5 million for him to not stand in the elections but he refused. The amount was double his election spending. Some are speculating the bribe may have come from pro-Beijing supporters.

In his concluding speech at the debate, Chow said, "Death doesn't frighten me. The most horrible thing is that you can't protect those who are important to you.

"I am not afraid of becoming a broken egg, but I fear that those who are close to me will be harmed."

The strange thing is that one you are an approved candidate, you can't just quit. And there was no indication that Chow and his family were in any danger...