The election of the seventh Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will be held on Sunday. A total of 153 candidates will compete for 90 seats. This will be the first election of the legislature of the SAR since its electoral system was reformed.

Over a long period of time, elections in Hong Kong have been downgraded to a political tool for foreign forces to intervene with China's domestic politics.
To plug the loopholes in the election system and promote good governance of the city, the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, amended the electoral institutions in March to strengthen the inspection of the qualification of the candidates with the aim of implementing the principle that only patriots can administer Hong Kong.

In May, the NPC's amendments were legalized in Hong Kong, becoming compulsory in the SAR.

Apart from the requirement for patriotism, the amendments mean that elections in the SAR are now more representative, inclusive, balanced and efficient, which is conducive to promoting the development of democracy in Hong Kong.

The secessionists, rioters and puppets of foreign countries will not be able to infiltrate the public organs of the SAR via the elections any more, as they have been screened in advance in the inspection of their qualifications to stand for election.

That 153 candidates from different political groups, political factions and representing different parts of the political spectrum holding different political ideas and aspirations are running in the election demonstrates the openness and inclusiveness of the new electoral system.

The representativeness and balance of the new electoral system ensure that the interests of different strata of SAR society and people of all walks of life can be fully reflected in the governance structure making it more reflective of and responsive to people's voices.

The new electoral system turns elections in Hong Kong into healthy competitions to serve its original purpose of serving the wellbeing of the Hong Kong people.

It shows that democracy is not for decoration but for solving the problems of the people.