This is a message that govt can't ignore: experts

Experts say for those who doubt the authenticity of opinion surveys, the election results should be an eye opener. Photo: RTHK

Academics warned on Monday that people have sent a clear message via the district council elections and the authorities can't brush aside this like it was just some kind of opinion poll.



Legal expert Danny Gittings said for those who doubt the authenticity of opinion surveys, the results should be an eye opener.



“For months and months we’ve had opinion polls that showed that an overwhelming majority of Hong Kong people still support the protests, but it’s very easy to brush small opinion polls aside," he said.



"People say don’t trust opinion polls and so on; well this was a real opinion poll where people actually vote in the privacy of ballot stations and the results are unmistakable”, Gittings said.



He added that he wouldn’t be surprised if a closer analysis of the final vote tally shows a strong correlation between areas with the highest voter turnout, and places where massive amounts of tear gas have been used by police over the past few months.



He noted that even pro-establishment strongholds such as Wong Tai Sin have switched their support to opposition figures.



Eric Lai, an academic from Baptist University's Government and International Studies Department, noted that most of the defeated candidates had supported the government’s now-withdrawn extradition bill or remained silent on allegations of widespread police brutality.



“It’s a clear message that those who do not stand with the people against the absence of accountability and the absence of self-discipline of the law enforcement agencies – they will pay a price in elections”, Lai said.



He said he expects the protests to continue if the government still doesn't give ground on the anti-extradition movement’s five core demands, including an independent probe of the policing of the protests, amnesty for arrested protesters, and genuine universal suffrage for Hong Kong.



“Now we see the protesters are backed up by this strong popular mandate, because… the pro-democracy candidates who were elected, they are all supporting the five demands," he said.



"So this is clear that elections and protests work hand in hand – and people will not stop just because we have a landslide victory in the elections”, Lai concluded.