Hong Kong has had its first taste of the remodeled electoral system that China designed for the city. As an exercise in competitive politics, Sunday¡¯s vote had all the suspense and spontaneity of a Soviet military parade, though with fewer people. All the same, Beijing has reason to be satisfied with the outcome.
The ballot was to fill about a quarter of the seats on the so-called Election Committee that will choose the city¡¯s next chief executive and appoint a chunk of the legislature. About 4,900 voters were eligible to take part.
Beijing shrank the electorate by about 97% due to the inconvenient tendency of Hong Kong people to vote for pro-democracy candidates. More than three-quarters of the seats open to election were filled uncontested after the number of nominations matched the number of places available, a sign that the important decisions had already been made behind closed doors.
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