PUBLISHED : Saturday, 28 November, 2015, 12:01am
UPDATED : Saturday, 28 November, 2015, 2:44am
Some campaigners and candidates targeted elderly residents. Photo: AFP
The head of a home for the elderly in Hung Hom from where residents were controversially ferried to polling stations for Sunday's district council elections has claimed that the pro-Beijing candidate accused of being behind the transportation arrangements had been handing out presents to the residents regularly over the last half a year and "totally deserved to win".
The Post earlier found that at least eight residents of Kam Ma Home of Aged were taken to a polling station in vans. The revelation sparked concerns about whether residents were manipulated into voting by the pro-Beijing camp, since some admitted they would vote according to the advice of "volunteers", who were found to be close to the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.
Breaking her silence yesterday, the head of the care centre, who only gave her surname as Shing, said what happened on Sunday was out of her control.
Daniel Lam Tak-shing, the DAB candidate who beat incumbent pan-democratic councillor Pius Yum Kwok-tung in the Hung Hom constituency by 371 votes, had been regularly visiting the centre for half a year, she said, giving out presents and assisting residents in registering as voters.
"The elderly people have already been registered and now someone is willing to take them to vote - what can I do? I have no right to oppose," said Shing. "The old people have all become fans of Lam … does Yum have the ability to take them?"
When asked if Lam's actions constituted a bribe in elections, Shing said: "You could interpret it as 'yes', but I will say it is not."
Lam had done a lot for the elderly people and totally deserved to win, Shing said, adding she would not stop people ferrying residents in future elections.
Yum, of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, said he would not file any petition to overturn the results.
"We cannot change the past, but I hope the government can plug the loopholes of vote-rigging and the manipulation of old residents in future," he said, noting the number of voters had surged in elderly care centres in Hung Hom in the last year.
Lam hung up the phone after saying he was "busy" when approached by the Post twice yesterday. The councillor had already refused to respond to the allegations even after being pursued on the street on Sunday.
It is illegal to offer any benefits to induce people to vote, not to vote or whom to vote for, according to the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance.
An Electoral Affairs Commission spokesman said any person who suspects any conduct in contravention of the ordinance should make a report to the ICAC.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1884329/hong-kong-poll-candidate-accused-bussing-elderly-residents
