HONG KONG - HONG Kongers went to the polls on Sunday in a closely watched legislative race viewed as a referendum on democracy.
The race features eight candidates, but pre-election polls showed it was largely between two well-known female former officials - Anson Chan and Regina Ip. According to a poll late on Friday, the gap between the two main candidates had narrowed to its smallest margin, with Mrs Chan leading Mrs Ip by just 8.6 points.
Mrs Chan, Hong Kong's former No 2 official, has been endorsed by the pro-democracy opposition, while former security chief Ip is the pro-Beijing camp's preferred candidate.
The election to fill a seat vacated by a lawmaker who died of cancer won't change Hong Kong's political landscape - the legislature will still be controlled by Beijing's local allies.
Still, the balloting is seen as an important gauge of the public's desire for democratic reforms. Hong Kong's leader is chosen by an 800-member committee loyal to Beijing and only half of its 60 legislators are elected, with the rest picked by interest groups.
The political opposition wants direct elections for all political offices soon, while the pro-China camp prefers a gradual approach.
Mrs Chan, 67, has been dubbed 'Hong Kong's conscience' for championing civil liberties.
She was the first woman and the first ethnic Chinese to rise to chief secretary for administration, the No 2 government post, under British rule. Mrs Chan stepped down in 2001 amid, she says, a disagreement with Hong Kong's then-chief executive, Tung Chee Hwa, over his plan to introduce appointed ministers.
As security chief, Ip pushed for a Beijing-backed anti-subversion bill that many feared would drastically curtail civil freedoms. Half a million people protested in July 2003, forcing the bill to be withdrawn. Ip later resigned.
Mrs Ip, 57, also drew criticism for saying that democracy was not a cure all for a society's problems, and that Adolf Hitler was elected through universal suffrage and went on to kill 7 million Jews.
Launching her campaign for the legislative seat, Ip apologized for making 'unnecessarily provocative' remarks when she was in government.
According to a Lingnan University poll on Friday, Mrs Ip's popularity had risen to its highest 27.4 per cent, while Mrs Chan had lost some of her support, down to 36 per cent. The survey interviewed 513 of the 618,000 people registered to vote in the election. It had a margin of error of 4 per cent. -- AP
