CS Hails 'competitive, Quality' Legco Polls

Chief Secretary John Lee has called on people to vote in the upcoming "competitive and quality" Legco election, saying it would pave the way for good governance in Hong Kong.

Writing on his blog on Saturday, Lee said malicious smears and personal attacks that had been features of past election campaigns had ended as all candidates were now patriots, and they had to compete on their political platforms.

"In the past elections, candidates who were anti-China and aimed to disrupt Hong Kong would always oppose China and the government... and rarely discussed their platforms or exchanged policy advocacies in a serious manner. This election is much different," he wrote.

Lee said the candidates were from across the political spectrum, and stressed that the legislature would not be an "echo chamber".

He added that the Legislative Council would be able to better monitor and communicate with the administration, now that people who were anti-China and aimed to disrupt Hong Kong could no longer obstruct the government in Legco.