Hong Kong Lawmakers Reject China’s Plan for Its Political Future
An overview of the chamber of the Legislative Council is seen in Hong Kong on Wednesday, June 17, 2015. Photographer: Xaume Olleros/Bloomberg
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Hong Kong lawmakers rejected a China-backed plan for the city’s first leadership elections, a result that leaves both Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and pro-democracy campaigners with little to show after months of protests.
Twenty-eight of the 70 lawmakers in the legislature voted against the plan, which critics say would have allowed China to screen candidates for an election in 2017 -- denying the two-thirds majority needed for passage. Only eight voted in favor after a failed bid to delay the vote through a walkout left most supporters outside the chamber for the ballot.