and joining me in studio is clifford cowen and he's reported extensively in the region not clifford hong kong citizens of course they've been protesting for months this is really their 1st opportunity though to have a direct say in the direction of the city i mean just could this election be a turning point for hong kong i think it definitely could i think you mentioned in your introduction earlier about how historic moment this is and i think as we're seeing the results come in it's just showing up there is huge support for having their voices heard in hong kong i think even regardless of what side you know the that this is an indication that hong kong people want to want to speak their minds and they want to be heard we've had no we've had there been no incidents today there's been incredible discipline in the way that the elections has just taken place without any without any tear gas as you say so i think that it's a real definitely of historic moment now just walk us through this again because this particular election when people are elected in these local district races what sort o

joining me now in studio is clifford cowen in his board extensively in the region now 1st of all i just want to get your reaction when we heard 90 of the 1st 100 seats declared at dawn to pro-democracy candidates what do you think about that that's a wave that's that's that's big you know this is a massive massive move some key constituencies we don't know yet some areas but it's looking like it's a major victory for the pro-democracy side some people are still a bit anxious they're saying that maybe there will be a swing later on but realistically it's very hard to see how that could happen it's certainly a massive gesture in terms of the pro-democracy count maybe not so surprising given how big that turnout was now citizens they've been protesting for months this though is their 1st opportunity to really have a direct say in terms of the direction of the city is this election do you think maybe a turning point for all i think so i mean there's long been a feeling in hong kong among the people that they never been asked themselves about what they think and this was in many ways the 1st