HONG KONG: People on the streets of Hong Kong are reacting strongly to the decision by two opposition parties to force a by-election through the resignation of five legislators from the city's geographical constituencies.

Many voters say they will boycott the vote to express disapproval of the action.

Kenneth Choi, who works in Central in the banking industry, stated he disagreed with the "confused logic" behind the self-declared "referendum" exercise being undertaken by the Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats.

"The biggest problem of the so-called 'referendum' campaign is that it's a by-election. Voters are going to vote for a person, not a proposition," he said. "The result of the 'de facto referendum' can not prove anything. Even if they 'succeed', they'll just feel good about themselves," he added.

Choi says he was so upset that he wrote an article in his blog criticizing the "referendum" specifically.

"I don't think it's a sensible move. The money to be spent on the by-elections is not the best use of our public money," said Ngan Hoi-yu, a 24-year-old woman working in financial service industry.

"I am a New Territories East resident, target voter of Leung Kwok-hung, so I am not going to vote," Ngan said.

Frank Wan, a student at the University of Science and Technology, is also against the move. "I won't vote," he stated flatly.

Wan does not agree with the opposition parities. He said he believes the constitutional reform plans proposed by the government already are progressive. "Democratic development should not be too fast," he said. He has attended a meeting of the Legislative Council to express his opinion on constitutional development days ago, although he is still a student.

Matthew Cheng, a voter who used to vote for the opposition parties, also declared he would not vote this time. "Their action is meaningless and has let our voters down," he said.

Nevertheless, Chung Kim-wah, assistant professor of the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the Polytechnic University, encourages people to vote in the by-elections rationally.

"Voting is to select a suitable person to serve the public and give full play to the function of the Legislative Council," he said.

He indicated the vacancies in the Legislative Council will be an objective fact, once the resignations take effect. "I am neither hoping that legislators do not approve the funding, nor am I appealing to citizens to boycott the voting. It (holding the by-elections) is appropriate," he said.

Suen Kai-cheong, chairman of Wan Chai District Council, appealed to the people of Hong Kong to vote with a rational attitude since the by-elections are to be conducted. "Consider Hong Kong's long-term development, and vote for the person who really contributes to Hong Kong's prosperity and stability," Suen said.

(HK Edition 01/23/2010 page1)