- The new law empowers the city’s national security department to check the backgrounds of potential candidates for public office and a sets up a new committee to ensure candidates are “patriotic”.
Agencies | , Hindustan Times, Hong Kong, Beijing
PUBLISHED ON MAY 28, 2021 05:21 AM IST
Hong Kong’s legislature on Thursday passed a bill amending electoral laws that drastically reduces the public’s ability to vote and increases the number of pro-Beijing lawmakers making decisions for the city.
The new law empowers the city’s national security department to check the backgrounds of potential candidates for public office and a sets up a new committee to ensure candidates are “patriotic”. The number of seats in Hong Kong’s legislature will be expanded to 90, with 40 of them elected by a pro-Beijing election committee. The number of legislators elected directly by Hong Kong voters will be cut to 20, from the previous 35.
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