The Alliance for Peace and Democracy (APD) claims it has collected 1.21 million signatures in support of the government’s controversial political reform proposal amid allegations of inaccuracies.
APD Convenor Robert Chow says the turnout rate during the nine-day effort was “basically quite good”, although he admits he originally expected four million signatures.
That’s probably why he used “basically quite good” instead of “fricking awesome” then.
Wong Kwan-yu, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, which helped organise the new initiative, said the result reflects the opinion of the silent majority, Ming Pao reports.
However, some critics have questioned the petition’s accuracy, saying some of those who signed were not required to provide proof of identity.
Allegations also emerged about volunteers at the booths signing the petition themselves and luring in children to bump up the numbers.
Chow, who has long been a controversial and outspoken figure for the government, challenged the authenticity of the photos that seemed to show such actions.
He staged a rally in August 2014 opposing the Occupy Movement, after which several media organisations revealed that some supporters of the rally provided food and other material rewards to participants.
A petition against the Occupy movement was staged in July 2014, before the street protests even began, which organisers claimed to have collected 1.8 million signatures.
Photo: CNN screengrab
