Book Review | Direct Action And Democracy Today By April Carter
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Book Review | Direct Action And Democracy Today By April Carter - Video
Hong Kong democracy movement split in protest-weary city
Hong Kong #39;s pro-democracy protesters are at a crossroads: as public support fades after nearly two months street clashes, activists are split on whether to retreat or ramp up their campaign....
By: AFP news agency
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Hong Kong democracy movement split in protest-weary city - Video
HONG KONG: Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong are at a crossroads - as public support fades after nearly two months of mass sit-ins and gridlocked traffic, activists are split on whether to retreat or ramp up their campaign.
With little hope of fresh dialogue between protesters and government, the spectacle of a small faction smashing up a side entrance to Hong Kong's legislature on Wednesday (Nov 19) left a sour taste in a city where criminal damage is extremely rare. And a thwarted attempt by student leaders to fly to Beijing and take their demands for free elections to China's authorities did little to alter cooling public opinion.
"The majority are against it. What they are asking for is reasonable, but it's causing a hindrance (to traffic)," said a 65-year-old gardener who gave his surname as Mo, waving a sprinkler as he tended to plants in public gardens around the main Admiralty protest site. "There are many other ways to do it," he said. "People have to make a living. I don't know that much, but many people agree with me," he added.
Demonstrators are demanding free elections for the city's next leader, but Beijing insists that candidates for the 2017 leadership vote must be vetted by a loyalist committee. Sit-ins and rallies at key intersections have brought traffic to a standstill and diverted buses and taxis, leaving commuters and local businesses irate.
In a reflection of residents' growing frustration, the protests have suffered a steady drop in popular backing - 83 per cent of respondents in a Hong Kong University poll of 513 people said this week they wanted the occupation to end, and just over 60 per cent declared the government should clear the protest areas. A similar study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong conducted a month ago suggested just 35.5 per cent of 802 respondents were opposed to the occupation.
OUT OF PROPORTION
Since late September, a tent city has sprung up around the city government's headquarters, sprawling across a main thoroughfare in the downtown Admiralty district, which now boasts an outdoor gym, study area, medical tent and art installations. Nightly rallies by charismatic protest leaders calling for fully free leadership elections in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory were initially attended by tens of thousands, and two more sites quickly appeared in densely packed shopping districts.
But some high-profile figures from within the movement argue the occupation has run its course and would better serve the ideals of greater democracy - a principle that still enjoys broad public support - by changing tack. "If the occupy movement has induced negative sentiment among residents, it could mean the scale of disturbance may have gone out of proportion, making it necessary to shift to other means of disobedience," Chan Kin-man, one of the founding members of the Occupy Central group, wrote in an editorial this week.
His sentiment was shared by heavyweight backer Jimmy Lai, a media magnate whose popular tabloids have been broadly supportive of the movement, in an interview with an Australian newspaper.
Hong Kong authorities are acutely aware of the slide in public support, reviving failed attempts to clear the sites after a court granted an order to remove obstructions this week, beginning with some barricades in Admiralty. Similar action is expected imminently in Mong Kok, a working-class district and focal point for clashes between police, demonstrators and anti-protest groups.
Continued here:
Hong Kong democracy movement split in protest-weary city
Pro-democracy protesters descended on central London tonight as the Occupy movement gathered to set up camp outside Parliament.
Organisers called for supporters to "return to Parliament Square" outside the Palace of Westminster from 6pm until late on Sunday.
Police have warned protesters they are banned from setting up camp at the landmark, as Scotland Yard insisted it had "an appropriate and proportionate police plan in place" for the event.
Dozens of officers were stationed in front of fencing placed around Parliament Square which prevented people from accessing the site.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said it attempted to make contact with organisers but the group had "failed to engage" with the police force.
The force confirmed a Section 60 AA order was in place in the area around Parliament Square which gives police powers to force people to remove masks where they anticipate criminal activity.
The order is in place until 2pm tomorrow, a police spokesman said.
Originally posted here:
Occupy Democracy demo: Recap updates as group protests in Parliament Square
Come and join us at Parliament Square this weekend says Lib Dem whistleblower DONNACHADH McCARTHY. Despite the best efforts of Boris Johnson and the police, we are determined to take back our democracy
Yesterday evening at 6pm, I returned to Occupy Tarpaulin Square Parliament Square along with many others for a weekend of pro-democracy protests and speeches.
I am an accidental occupier.
On Saturday October 18, as a former deputy chair of the Liberal Democrats who was drummed out of the party for whistleblowing on corporate lobbying corruption, I was invited to speak at the launch rally of the nine-day Occupy Democracy event in Parliament Square.
Green Party chair Natalie Bennett, respected Labour MP John McDonnell and Russell Brand were the other speakers. After the rally, I hung around chatting with the peaceful protesters who numbered about 60 people, sitting on a large blue tarpaulin.
Suddenly at about 6pm, we were surrounded by riot police and kettled. The outer boundary of the square was sealed off with another cordon of police and outside them the entire square was blockaded with nose-to-nose police vans.
We were told no press were being allowed into the square to witness the brutal removal of the protesters from the tarpaulin.
Seemingly sitting on or even the possession of tarpaulin is now a major national security threat in Britain but not in Hong Kong. Thus, we renamed the square Tarpaulin Square, due to the absence of a genuinely democratic Parliament in Westminster.
Inside the kettle, we remained totally non-violent as London Mayor Boris Johnsons private security firm AOS instructed the police to physically remove and arrest people for sitting on the tarpaulin.
Having experienced his brutal suppression of this protest, I felt a line had been crossed for me.
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Democracy Before Profit