HONG KONG (Reuters) - An election committee of 1,200 Hong Kong notables is to vote on Sunday for the city's next leader following an election campaign marred by scandals that have dented public trust and the popularity of the two main candidates.
Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is a freewheeling capitalist hub enjoying a high degree of autonomy and freedom, but Beijing's Communist Party leaders have resisted public pressure for full democracy.
Hong Kong's seven million people have no say in who becomes their chief executive.
Instead, an election committee filled with business professionals, tycoons and Beijing loyalists, will select a successor to the bow tie-wearing Donald Tsang, who has served two terms and cannot stand again.
The committee is made up of representatives of various professional, business and political groups, selected under a system set up by Beijing to preserve its influence.
The election, the most fiercely contested since 1997, has seen scandals and mud-slinging undermine the positions of two main candidates, Henry Tang and Leung Chun-ying.
Many dismayed residents have demanded a fresh election with new candidates, while a small number of election committee members have pledged to cast blank ballots as a sign of their unhappiness with the candidates.
"It isn't as if there aren't capable people, there are plenty of capable, committed people," said Anson Chan, Hong Kong's respected former civil service chief dubbed the city's "conscience".
"The question is that as long as central government continues to place more emphasis on control ... on somebody in their own camp, I don't think we're going to see the right leader emerging," Chan told Reuters.
Hundreds of protesters, some who camped out overnight, gathered outside the election venue at a harbour-front convention centre to show their anger at being denied a voice.
"Cast blank ballots. Refuse to vote. We want universal suffrage," shouted marching members of the Hong Kong Federation of Students.
"If Leung is successful, we can see this is not Hong Kong's choice. We cannot speak out anymore. Hong Kong will be controlled by the Chinese government," said protester Francisco Wong.
Underlining residents' frustration, most of more than 200,000 people said they would abstain if given the chance to vote, according to a University of Hong Kong poll.
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Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula with a promise of full democracy as an "ultimate aim".
Beijing has promised to allow a direct election for the city's leader in 2017 but for the time being, China's Communist Party leaders and the city's tycoons exert a high degree of control over politics.
Nevertheless, Hong Kong remains a beacon of democratic reform and civil liberties in China, which wants to see the self-ruled island of Taiwan reunited with the mainland, perhaps under a similar formula.
The candidate widely seen as the early front-runner, Tang, had his image dented by revelations of a love affair and a scandal over illegal construction at his villa.
Tang, 59, has been seen as the underdog since pro-Beijing forces appeared to switch their backing over the past week to lobby for Leung instead.
The affluent scion of an industrialist and a former civil service chief, Tang has close family ties to China's Shanghai-linked senior leaders.
Leung, 57, is a self-made Hong Kong-born surveyor with deep China connections and a reputation as a tough political operator with a more innovative policy vision.
A third candidate, Albert Ho, head of the Democratic Party, is vying for the job but the stranglehold of vested interest groups in the electoral college mean he has little chance.
Should no candidate secure a 601-seat majority after a possible three rounds of voting, a re-election will be held in May that could see new candidates emerge.
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