Govt Reveals Contingency Plans If DC Polls Disrupted

The government on Thursday announced contingency arrangements if a decision is taken to postpone or adjourn the district council elections planned for November 24.

Speculation has been rife that the authorities could postpone or even cancel the elections if violent protests are expected to be held on polling day, although officials say they are working "at full steam" for the polls.

A paper submitted to the Legislative Council notes that the Chief Executive or the Electoral Affairs Commission can postpone or adjourn the elections or the counts if they consider they are likely to be obstructed or seriously affected by certain scenarios, such as a “riot, open violence or any danger to public health or safety”.

A crisis management committee to be chaired by the Electoral Affairs Commission’s head, Barnabas Fung, will handle the arrangements if the elections can't go ahead as planned.

The committee will be comprised of representatives of various government departments, including the police, along with Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip.

The paper says if the polls are moved to another day, it should normally be the following Sunday. This would make December 1 the new polling day in this case.

It also says if the elections are postponed or adjourned to a later time on the same day, the delay should normally only be for a maximum of 1.5 hours.