Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam announces the postponement of the 2020 Legislative Council (LegCo) General Election of the HKSAR due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, July 31, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
"Amid the epidemic situation in Hong Kong at present, postponing the election can protect the safety and health of Hong Kong residents, and enable the HKSAR government to concentrate all its efforts on dealing with the epidemic."
BEIJING, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- The postponement of the Legislative Council (LegCo) election of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) due to COVID-19 is a responsible decision that helps control the epidemic and protects people's health and safety, foreign experts have said.
Nabil Shaath, adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for international relations, said the postponement is a wise, correct and necessary decision.
Amid the epidemic situation in Hong Kong at present, postponing the election can protect the safety and health of Hong Kong residents, and enable the HKSAR government to concentrate all its efforts on dealing with the epidemic, Shaath said.
Staff members work at a makeshift hospital for COVID-19 patients at the AsiaWorld-Expo in south China's Hong Kong on Aug. 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaochu)
The safety and health of voters should be put above all else, Shaath said, adding that the move of the HKSAR government safeguards the interest and reflects the will of the voters.
Oleksiy Koval, a member of the Board of the Ukrainian Association of Sinologists, said the HKSAR government's decision to postpone the LegCo election is a right decision made at a difficult time.
Given the current epidemic situation in Hong Kong, it is impossible to guarantee the safety of voters in a vote in autumn, said Koval, who added that the decision of the HKSAR government "is a manifestation of concern for the health of the Hong Kong people."
A woman wearing a face mask buys fish at a market amid COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, south China, Aug. 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Lo Ping Fai)
Fabio Fernandez, a professor of history at the University of Havana in Cuba, said that Hong Kong's top priority is to contain the spread of the epidemic. The HKSAR government's announcement of the postponement of the LegCo election demonstrates that it puts people's health and safety in the first place, the professor said.
Chief Executive of the HKSAR Carrie Lam on Friday announced the postponement of the 2020 LegCo General Election of the HKSAR due to the current COVID-19 outbreak.
The election for the seventh-term LegCo members of the HKSAR, originally scheduled for Sept. 6, 2020, will be postponed for one year, Lam said at a press conference. ■