District Poll Candidates Derail Their Own Briefing

The official candidate briefing session for the District Council elections was forced to end early on Thursday night, after pro-democracy candidates began to protest.

In a departure from previous practice, the draw to allot candidate numbers for the ballot papers was carried out first at 6pm, before the briefing got under way.

However as soon as the session began at 8pm, the group of candidates started chanting slogans and holding up banners calling for an end to political screening, as well as the anti-government protesters' mantra of "five demands, not one less". The meeting was first briefly suspended, and then cancelled.

One candidate, Owan Li, warned the government against using the disruption as an excuse to call off the elections, saying such a move would just create more conflict and chaos in society. "If the government finally decides to cancel the election

Li is running in the Tai Kok Tsui North constituency against the DAB's Lau Pak-kei.

Several people were also carried out of the briefing - held at the AsiaWorld-Expo at Chek Lap Kok amid tight security. Candidates and reporters were required to arrive in shuttle buses and go through bag checks.

Items such as banners and umbrellas had been banned from the venue, which saw a heavy presence of security guards, with police officers also on standby on nearby roads.

In his opening remarks, Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) chairman Barnabas Fung said the recent increase in violence is worrying and he hoped it won't disrupt the process. He urged people to maintain peace for an orderly, open and fair election.

Following the early end to the meeting, the EAC issued a statement condemning the disruption.