A Polemic Referendum Calls for 'Democracy' on Hong Kong

 Citizens from Hong Kong have called for a referendum on certain conditions imposed by Beijing for the upcoming 2017 electoral process. Law professor Benny Tai is the main organizer of the unofficial virtual Referendum which is due to start this Friday. The aim of Tai and a number of activists is to change the conditions under which the elections of 2017 will take place.

The main disagreement is in relation to the way in which Beijing has defined the process. Whilst Hong Kong activist are calling for the presentation of any candidacy which meets certain legal parameters, the Chinese Government wants the candidates to be elected by a 1, 200 men electoral commission. Since the integration of Hong Kong to China, after the end of the British rule (1997), the Chinese government has given a large degree of autonomy and an independent economic system to the region.

Tai and the Occupy Central movement – who are the main organizers and promoters of the virtual Referendum – are aiming to get 300,000 people to vote online, which they consider would be a number large enough to excerpt pressure on the central Government.

Their concern is that, under the present rules, the election will only count with pro-Pekin candidates. On Tuesday the Referendum website suffered from hacker attacks, but the website will be fixed for Friday.

The Referendum has raised a movement which has staged recent protests. The initiative's momentum has the authorities concerned and prepared for any violent events.

Banks have designed contingency plans to prevent disruptions to their operations.