17th May, 2010 - Low turnout in by-election

Low turnout in yesterday by-election dealt a blow to the pan-democrats. Five pan-democrat legislators resigned in January for the sake of holding a by-election, which was touted as a de facto referendum on universal suffrage. But under the boycott by government-friendly parties, high-rank officials refused to vote and also the pressure from Beijing prompted the by-election ending with record low turnout. The election-day was relatively peaceful and the five democreats won and attained their seat without any threatening. Despite pan-democrats said the excercise was successful in terms of reflecting people eagerness of universal suffrage, the government claimed the 17.1% turnout rate implied that the by-election was not welcomed by most of the people.

Reference: The commerical by pan-democrats