Hong Kong Legco poll to ‘go ahead as planned’ with fire recovery on track

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council election will be held as scheduled on December 7, as recovery and rebuilding work from the city’s deadliest blaze in Tai Po is proceeding largely smoothly, a source has told the Post.

The insider said the decision to proceed with the poll as planned was also based on legal considerations, as postponing it could risk creating a constitutional crisis after December 31, when the current council’s term ends.

“A lot of legislative work also needs to be done. The consensus is that there is little point in holding it in abeyance,” the source said.

Another source told the Post the assessment was that the post-fire recovery work could be done alongside the election preparations without compromising efforts or resources on either front.

Hong Kong has been observing a three-day mourning period for the victims of the Wang Fuk Court blaze, which ends on Monday. The fire, which ravaged seven of the eight buildings in the housing complex on Wednesday, claimed 146 lives and left 79 injured as of Sunday.

Before the tragedy, the city had been ramping up momentum for the Legco election, with the government organising forums for the first time and the business sector providing incentives such as half-day paid leave to encourage people to go out and vote.