HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) – Hong Kong has been gripped for almost five months by protests demanding greater democracy. Now, a pair of bloody attacks on candidates is raising questions about whether the city can even hold an election.

On Wednesday (Nov 6), a pro-Beijing lawmaker known for his inflammatory comments against protesters was stabbed on the street while campaigning. Earlier this week, a pro-democracy candidate had a piece of his ear bitten off in a vicious brawl.

Both men are seeking one of the more than 450 District Council seats up for grabs on Nov 24, in what will be the first citywide vote since a wave of historic protests struck the former British colony in June. The vote has emerged as a test of whether of the city’s commitment to democracy amid waves of demonstrations that have devolved into vandalism, police clashes and occasional mob violence.

The city’s Beijing-appointed chief executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, has the authority to decide whether to delay the voting. The election could be delayed in case of a “riot, open violence or any danger to public health or safety”, according to a paper the government submitted to the city’s legislature.

“I’m greatly worried that the only democratic election that we can have might be torpedoed by all of this,” said Mr Ronny Tong, a lawyer and government adviser.

“With this attack, people are beginning to question whether it’s safe to carry on with the elections as if nothing has happened.”

A delay could would deal a set back to a rare bastion of democracy under Chinese rule. Although district councilors have little political power, they help choose electors that select the city’s top leader and the election is expected to set the tone for more consequential vote for seats on the local legislature next year.

INFLAMING TENSIONS

Hong Kong’s government is legally allowed to delay the vote for as long as 14 days. But in October, Mrs Lam invoked the colonial-era Emergency Powers Ordinance for the first time since 1967 – in order to ban the face masks worn by protesters – and could conceivably do so again to push back the elections beyond that time frame.

One Lam adviser suggested in an interview with news site HK01 that if protests continue past a certain date ahead of the elections, the voting process should be postponed.

Still, such a move risks further inflaming tensions and provoking US lawmakers to get more aggressive in efforts to support Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp.

Mrs Lam told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday she was worried that violence was becoming “contagious”, adding that she was aware of concerns about the intentional disruptions of the elections.

The government “will do all it can to hold a fair and safe election, but this would require the acknowledgment of the entire society, and everyone should condemn any acts that disrupt the elections, especially violent behaviour”, Mrs Lam said.

During the latest attack, lawmaker Junius Ho was handed flowers by a man who suddenly pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest. He called his wound “superficial”, but called it a “dark day” and said “the climate of the election is unjust and order is already lost”.

It was the latest in a series of attacks on prominent figures affiliated with the election. Activist Jimmy Sham of the Civil Human Rights Front, which has organised some of the city’s biggest protests, was attacked for a second time last month after announcing he would run. Mr Yeung Tsz Hei, a pro-establishment candidate, was kicked while campaigning on Wednesday morning, news outlet HK01 reported.

‘GREAT IRONY’

“This is a great irony, that for many years, Hong Kong people enjoyed a level of civil liberties – personal safety, rule of law, independence of judiciary – much higher than many countries with periodic elections, both in Asia and elsewhere,” said Ms Emily Lau, a former head of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party who has advised candidates in the upcoming elections.

“But now, in the last four or five months, suddenly all these things are crumbling down before our very eyes.”

The importance of this year’s election is magnified by five months of historic unrest sparked by a Bill allowing extraditions to mainland China, which expanded into a movement for greater democracy. With Mrs Lam’s popularity at a record low as violence grows, pro-democracy lawmakers are hoping to make an impact with huge gains over their pro-establishment rivals.

Mr Tong, who’s also a former lawmaker, said that any violence that erupts during the elections could prompt Beijing to take more direct action to clamp down on the city’s freedoms.

“We’re putting the continuation of ‘one country, two systems’ at risk,” Mr Tong said, referring to the system by which Beijing rules over Hong Kong’s capitalist society.

“If Beijing were to say, ‘Well, I’m fed up with this, and I’ll do what I can to restore law and order’, you can imagine what it would be like for people in Hong Kong – and that’s the dangerous thing that we see on the horizon.”

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