Riot police to guard polling booths: reports

Reports say armed police will be posted to guard the polling booths. File photo: AFP

Regina Ip, the head of the New People's Party, says she's concerned for the safety of candidates and their supporters. File photo: RTHK

The government reportedly plans to deploy riot police to guard polling stations for the District Council elections on Sunday.



The Chief Secretary, Matthew Cheung, has stressed the government's determination to go ahead with the polls despite months of increasingly violent protests. Beijing has also urged the government to hold the elections.



The reports that police would guard the polls emerged shortly after Executive Councillor Regina Ip spoke about what she sees as an "atmosphere of terror" overshadowing the vote and its outcome.



Ip, the head of the New People's Party and a Legislative Councillor, said she was concerned for the safety of candidates and their supporters.



"We have talked to the government about personal protection but, of course, given the overstretched condition of police they cannot provide personal protection for all the candidates and all their supporters," Ip told RTHK.



"Under our laws, the Chief Executive has no power to cancel the elections. The Chief Executive and the Electoral Affairs Commission have the power to postpone the elections under certain circumstances but only for 14 days," she said.



"This is an unprecedented situation. I'm not sure they know how to handle it so we can only make an appeal to the government to make sure that we can have a fair chance of getting the vote out."



The South China Morning Post on Friday quoted an unnamed senior police source as saying that almost all officers in the 31,000-strong force had to report for duty on election day, with another 3,000 riot control officers and crime investigators on standby - a first for local polls.