Pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong): Difference between revisions
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The pro-democracy activists emerged from the youth movements in the 1970s and began to take part in electoral politics as the colonial government introduced representative democracy in the mid 1980s. The pro-democrats joined hand in pushing for greater democracy both in the transition period and after [[transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong|handover of Hong Kong]] in 1997. They also supported greater democracy in Chinese and took the supporting role in the [[Tiananmen Square protest of 1989]]. The relationship between the pro-democrats and the Beijing government strained after the Beijing's bloody crackdown on the protest and the pro-democrats were labelled "treason". The pro-democrats formed the [[United Democrats of Hong Kong]] (UDHK) which later transformed into the [[Democratic Party (Hong Kong)|Democratic Party]]. Since 2004, the term "pan-democracy camp" is more in use as more different parties and politicians from different political spectrum emerged. |
The pro-democracy activists emerged from the youth movements in the 1970s and began to take part in electoral politics as the colonial government introduced representative democracy in the mid 1980s. The pro-democrats joined hand in pushing for greater democracy both in the transition period and after [[transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong|handover of Hong Kong]] in 1997. They also supported greater democracy in Chinese and took the supporting role in the [[Tiananmen Square protest of 1989]]. The relationship between the pro-democrats and the Beijing government strained after the Beijing's bloody crackdown on the protest and the pro-democrats were labelled "treason". The pro-democrats formed the [[United Democrats of Hong Kong]] (UDHK) which later transformed into the [[Democratic Party (Hong Kong)|Democratic Party]]. Since 2004, the term "pan-democracy camp" is more in use as more different parties and politicians from different political spectrum emerged. |
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== Ideology == |
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{{see also|Democratic development in Hong Kong|Liberalism in Hong Kong}} |
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* Vindication of the [[Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989]] |
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The main goal of the pan-democracy camp is to achieve [[universal suffrage]] of the [[Chief Executive of Hong Kong]] (CE) and the [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong]] (LegCo) as guaranteed in [[Hong Kong Basic Law Article 45|Article 45]] and Article 68 of the [[Basic Law of Hong Kong|Basic Law]] respectively. Since the [[National People's Congress Standing Committee]] (NPCSC) 31 August 2014 decision that determined that Chief Executive candidate would be selected by a highly restrictive nominating committee which was seen as the betrayal of the democratic value, some democrats have raised the question of the [[right of self-determination]]. Yet, the mainstream pan-democrats remained their support of an autonomous Hong Kong under the "[[One Country, Two Systems]]" framework as promised by the Basic Law.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/world/asia/hong-kong-elections.html | title=China Restricts Voting Reforms for Hong Kong | work=The New York Times | date=31 August 2014 | accessdate=31 August 2014 |author1=Buckley, Chris |author2=Forsythe, Michael}}</ref> |
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* [[Chinese democracy movement|Democratic reform in China]] (opposing the [[Single-party]] rule of the [[Communist Party of China]]) |
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* Improve and support [[human rights in Hong Kong]] |
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The pan-democrats generally embrace [[liberal]] values such as rule of law, human rights, civil liberties and social justice, yet their economic positions vary. Some pro-democrats position themselves in a more pro-labour position, such as the [[League of Social Democrats]] (LSD), the [[Labour Party (Hong Kong)|Labour Party]] and the [[Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre]] (NWSC), however most pan-democrats believe in a more [[egalitarian]] society. The pan-democracy camp generally support the [[Chinese democracy movement]], in which it can trace back to their support of the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]]. The pan-democrats have been calling for the end of [[one party rule]] of the [[Communist Party of China]] therefore are seen as threat to the Beijing authorities. |
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* [[Universal suffrage]] in Hong Kong |
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The pan-democrats also divide themselves with different approaches of achieving democracy: the moderate democrats represented by the [[Democratic Party (Hong Kong)|Democratic Party]] and the [[Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood]] (ADPL) believe in dialogue with Beijing and Hong Kong governments over struggle, while radical democrats such as the League of Social Democrats and the [[People Power (Hong Kong)|People Power]] believe in street actions and mass movements. There have been serve conflicts and distrust between the two factions and a great split after the [[2010 Hong Kong electoral reform|constitutional reform voting]] in 2010, where the Democratic Party negotiated with the Beijing representatives and supported the modified reform proposal and was seen as a betrayal by the radical democrats.<ref>{{Cite news | last = | first = | title = A more united Democratic Party predicted as Young Turks leave | pages = | newspaper = South China Morning Post | location = Hong Kong | date = 20 December 2010 }}</ref> |
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== History == |
== History == |
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Revision as of 00:07, 6 July 2016
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2016) |
Pro-democracy camp | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1986 |
| Ideology | Direct democracy Liberalism (Hong Kong) Radical democracy Social democracy Social liberalism |
| Political position | Centre to Centre-left |
| Legislative Council | 27 / 70 |
| District Councils | 124 / 458 |
 |
|
Politics and government of Hong Kong |
Related topics  Hong Kong portal |
The pan-democracy camp or pro-democracy camp (Chinese: 泛民主派, 民主派 or 泛民) refers to a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong and the Legislative Council of Hong Kong as given by the Basic Law of Hong Kong under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework. The pan-democrats generally embrace liberal values such as rule of law, human rights, civil liberties and social justice, yet their economic positions vary. They are often identified as the "opposition camp" due to its non-cooperative and sometimes confrontational stance toward the Hong Kong SAR and Chinese central governments.
The pro-democracy activists emerged from the youth movements in the 1970s and began to take part in electoral politics as the colonial government introduced representative democracy in the mid 1980s. The pro-democrats joined hand in pushing for greater democracy both in the transition period and after handover of Hong Kong in 1997. They also supported greater democracy in Chinese and took the supporting role in the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989. The relationship between the pro-democrats and the Beijing government strained after the Beijing's bloody crackdown on the protest and the pro-democrats were labelled "treason". The pro-democrats formed the United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) which later transformed into the Democratic Party. Since 2004, the term "pan-democracy camp" is more in use as more different parties and politicians from different political spectrum emerged.
Ideology
The main goal of the pan-democracy camp is to achieve universal suffrage of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (CE) and the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) as guaranteed in Article 45 and Article 68 of the Basic Law respectively. Since the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) 31 August 2014 decision that determined that Chief Executive candidate would be selected by a highly restrictive nominating committee which was seen as the betrayal of the democratic value, some democrats have raised the question of the right of self-determination. Yet, the mainstream pan-democrats remained their support of an autonomous Hong Kong under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework as promised by the Basic Law.[1]
The pan-democrats generally embrace liberal values such as rule of law, human rights, civil liberties and social justice, yet their economic positions vary. Some pro-democrats position themselves in a more pro-labour position, such as the League of Social Democrats (LSD), the Labour Party and the Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre (NWSC), however most pan-democrats believe in a more egalitarian society. The pan-democracy camp generally support the Chinese democracy movement, in which it can trace back to their support of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The pan-democrats have been calling for the end of one party rule of the Communist Party of China therefore are seen as threat to the Beijing authorities.
The pan-democrats also divide themselves with different approaches of achieving democracy: the moderate democrats represented by the Democratic Party and the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) believe in dialogue with Beijing and Hong Kong governments over struggle, while radical democrats such as the League of Social Democrats and the People Power believe in street actions and mass movements. There have been serve conflicts and distrust between the two factions and a great split after the constitutional reform voting in 2010, where the Democratic Party negotiated with the Beijing representatives and supported the modified reform proposal and was seen as a betrayal by the radical democrats.[2]
History
Members of the camp include social workers and social activists who concern about the question of Hong Kong sovereignty took part in Hong Kong's district board, Urban Council and Regional Council elections in the early 1980s, as well as professionals, mainly lawyers, who entered the Legislative Council when functional constituencies were introduced in the mid-1980s. Several political groups formed the Joint Committee on the Promotion of Democratic Government demanding for 1988 direct election and universal suffrage in the new government after 1997. Among them, the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, Hong Kong Affairs Society and Meeting Point were the three major pro-democratic groups and formed a strategic alliance in the 1988 district board elections.
Tiananmen protests and pre-Handover period
The foundation of its public support has its roots in opposition to the 1989 Tiananmen protests which aroused widespread horror, sympathy and support of the protesters by Hong Kong citizens.[3] The crackdown on Chinese media and the subsequent suppression of student dissent was a mobilizing factor; and the first direct election to the Legislative Council in 1991 brought the amalgamation of some of these groups into the United Democrats of Hong Kong, which including, Szeto Wah and Martin Lee the two major icons in the protests of 1989.
The "Pro-Democracy camp" term has been in common use since the 1991 election of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, when the electoral alliance of United Democrats of Hong Kong and Meeting Point, together with other smaller political parties, groups and independents, won a historical landslide victory in the election, took 17 out of the 18 geographical constituency seats and controlled nearly half of the seat of the council. Some of the members of the camp, especially the Democratic Party, were often considered strategic allies of the government of Chris Patten, then governor.
The Democrats supported Chris Patten's 1994 Hong Kong electoral reform bill for the 1995 Legislative Council election. However, Emily Lau's full-scale direct election amendment was not passed as a result of Meeting Point's abstaining from voting for Emily Lau. The Democratic Party, formed by a merger of the United Democrats and Meeting Point in 1994, won another landslide victory in the 1995 election. Together with other democratic parties and individuals (including Emily Lau, Lee Cheuk-yan and Leung Yiu-chung who formed The Frontier in 1996 and Christine Loh who formed the Citizens Party in 1997), the pro-democrats gained a majority in the council for the last two years before 1997.
The PRC government argued that the electoral reform introduced by Patten had violated the Joint Declaration and thus they no longer felt obliged to honour it. A parallel Legislative Council, the Provisional Legislative Council, was formed in 1996 under the control of the Pro-Beijing camp, this became the Legislative Council upon the founding of the new SAR government in 1997.
Handover to China and 1 July 2003 Protest
All of its members, except the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, declined to join the extralegal Provisional Legislative Council installed by the government of the People's Republic of China, and were ousted from the territory's legislature for a year until the 1998 election. Starting from the 1998 election, since the plurality electoral system was changed to proportional representation, compounded with the restoration of corporate votes in the functional constituencies, and replacement of broad-based functional constituencies with traditional ones, the number of seats of the camp dipped, albeit having similar share of vote. Within the camp, share of smaller parties and independents increased relatively, with the share of the Democratic Party falling from around two-thirds in 1995 to less than a half by 2004.
In recent years, use of "pan-democrats" is gaining in popularity, as it is typically meant to be non-denominational and all-inclusive. Members of the camp tend to use the latter term to identify themselves the "Pan-democracy camp" term is often used in negative tones by its detractors. "Pan-democrat" as a title has grown in usage especially during the passage of the national security and anti-subversion legislation, so-called Article 23. The pan-democracy camp was the strong opposition to the Article 23 and they successfully called for over 500 000 people to protest on 1 June 2003 against the legislation. The pro-democrats received victories in the subsequent 2003 district councils and 2004 LegCo elections. The Article 23 Concern Group formed by the pro-democracy lawyers transformed into Article 45 Concern Group and its member Audrey Eu, Alan Leong and Ronny Tong were elected in the 2004 LegCo election.
In 2006, the group formed the middle class and professional oriented Civic Party. On the other hand, the left-wing radical group League of Social Democrats was formed in the same year by Trotskyist legislator Leung Kwok-hung and radical radio host Wong Yuk-man.
In the 2007 Chief Executive election, Civic Party's Alan Leong successfully gained enough nominations to challenge the incumbent CE Donald Tsang, but he was not elected as expected due to the control of the Election Committee by the pro-Beijing camp.
After the 2008 LegCo election, The Frontier merged into the Democratic Party and the convenor Emily Lau was elected vice chair of the party.
2012 Reform Package and split
Donald Tsang, the Chief Executive, promised to resolve the question of universal suffrage in his office during the election. He carried out the 2012 constitutional package in 2009 which was criticised by the pro-democracy as lack of genuine progress. The League of Social Democrats called for a de facto referendum, by way of the 2010 by-elections in five geographical constituencies. Civic Party, the second largest pro-democratic party joined, however the Democratic Party, the largest party, was reluctant to participate. The Democratic Party and other moderate democrats and pro-democracy scholars launched the Alliance for Universal Suffrage and started to engage with the mainland officials. The Democratic Party brought out a revised proposal of the package to Beijing and the revised proposal was passed in the Legislative Council in the support of the government and Pro-Beijing camp.
However, it triggered a major split within the camp and also in the Democratic Party. The Young Turks including the LegCo member Andrew Cheng quit the party and formed the Neo Democrats. The Democratic Party was accused by the LSD and the radicals of betraying democracy and its supporters. On the matter of whether to coordinate with the moderate democrats in the 2011 district council elections, the League of Social Democrats was suffered in the factional fighting and the two of the three LSD legislators left the party in disarray and formed the People Power.[4] The People Power's campaign targeted pan-democrat parties in the 2011 DC elections that had supported the reform package filled candidates to run against them but only won one seat of 62 contested.
Nevertheless, the People Power managed to win three seats in the 2012 LegCo election and the radical democrats of the (People Power and the League of Social Democrats) topped 264,000 votes, compared to the Civic Party's 255,000 and Democratic Party's 247,000 respectively.[5] Despite the pan democrats securing three of the five newly created, District Council (second) constituency seats the ratio of the vote share between the pan democrats and the pro-Beijing camp narrowed significantly from the traditional 60% and 40%, to 55% and 45%.
The chairman of the Democratic Party Albert Ho represented the pan-democracy camp to run in the 2012 Chief Executive election. On election day the pan democrats declined to vote for neither Henry Tang nor Leung Chun-ying and called for a blank vote from the electors.
In March 2013, all 27 democratic legislators formed the Alliance for True Democracy, replacing the Alliance for Universal Suffrage, to show solidarity of the camp to fight for genuine democracy. But Raymond Wong soon left People Power, meant he was not a member of ATD.
Political parties
This list includes the political parties and groups currently represented in the Legislative Council:
- Democratic Party, is the flagship pro-democracy party succeeded the United Democrats of Hong Kong which won a landslide victory in the 1991 first ever direct elections of the Legislative Council. It was originally founded in 1990 as a grand alliance of the pro-democracy activists from all sectors and was further merged with the Meeting Point in 1994. It positions itself as centrist and social liberal.
- Civic Party, is the professional-based pro-democracy party formed in 2006 which the founders are mostly barristers rose into fame in the anti-Article 23 legislation Its scored fairly well in the recent elections and has overtaken the Democratic Party with more popular votes in the geographical constituencies in the 2012 Legislative Council election.
- Labour Party, is a pro-labour social democratic party founded by veteran politician Lee Cheuk-yan of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) in 2012.
- People Power, is considered to be a radical democratic group backed by businessman Stephen Shiu in 2011. It was first formed as a breakaway group from the League of Social Democrats which its former chairman Wong Yuk-man had disagreement with the then party leadership over the strategy of spinning the Democratic Party who had reached a compromise with the Beijing government on the 2010 Hong Kong electoral reform.
- Professional Commons, is a professional-based group which consists of pro-democracy legislators through the professional functional constituencies.
- League of Social Democrats, is a left-wing social democratic party founded in 2006 by Wong Yuk-man. It initiated the Five Constituencies Referendum in 2010 and suffered a major split in 2011. Its sole representative in the Legislative Council is its chairman Leung Kwok-hung.
- Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, is a pro-grassroots party which was formed in 1986 as a political group. It was one of the major pro-democracy groups in the 1980s and participated in municipal elections. It has had one legislator every term in 2000. It is considered the moderate faction in the camp.
- Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre, is a small pro-grassroots group based in Kwai Chung in the New Territories formed in 1985. Leung Yiu-chung has been its sole legislator since 1995.
- Neo Democrats, is originally the reformist faction in the Democratic Party which broke away from the party in 2010 after the compromise of the electoral reform packages. Gary Fan Kwok-wai was elected in the 2012 Legislative Council election with a nativist agenda.
Civil groups
- Alliance for True Democracy
- Civil Human Rights Front
- Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China
- Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions
- Hong Kong Federation of Students
- Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union
- Scholarism
Criticism of the camp
Since the camp's idea of western-style liberal democracy would not be accepted easily by the Chinese government run by Communist Party. In some cases, pan-democracy activists have been accused of high treason and as "traitors to Han Chinese".[6]
Electoral performance
Chief Executive elections
| Election | Candidate | # of votes | % of vote | Total vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Alan Leong Kah-kit | 123 | 15.38 | 123 / 796
|
| 2012 | Albert Ho Chun-yan | 76 | 6.37 | 76 / 1,193
|
Legislative Council elections
| Election | Number of popular votes |
% of popular votes |
GC seats |
FC seats |
EC seats |
Total seats | +/− |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 888,729 [7]
|
64.91
|
16 | 4 | − | 20 / 60
|
13
|
| 1995 | 581,181
|
63.73
|
17 | 10 | 4 | 31 / 60
|
11
|
| 1998 | 982,249
|
66.36
|
15 | 5 | 0 | 20 / 60
|
— |
| 2000 | 799,249
|
60.56
|
16 | 5 | 0 | 21 / 60
|
1
|
| 2004 | 1,096,272
|
61.93
|
18 | 7 | 26 / 60
|
3
| |
| 2008 | 901,707
|
59.50
|
19 | 4 | 23 / 60
|
3
| |
| 2012 | 1,036,998
|
57.26
|
18 | 9 | 27 / 70
|
4
|
Municipal elections
| Election | Number of popular votes |
% of popular votes |
UrbCo seats |
RegCo seats |
Total elected seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 68,831
|
32.38
|
5 | 5 | 10 / 27
|
| 1991 | 200,877
|
51.28
|
6 | 7 | 13 / 27
|
| 1995 | 255,490
|
45.82
|
17 | 14 | 31 / 59
|
District Council elections
| Election | Number of popular votes |
% of popular votes |
Total elected seats |
+/− |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 139,982
|
22.16
|
61 / 264
|
|
| 1991 | 170,757
|
32.11
|
83 / 272
|
22
|
| 1994 | 249,685
|
36.38
|
124 / 346
|
41
|
| 1999 | 271,251
|
33.45
|
122 / 390
|
2
|
| 2003 | 469,640
|
44.67
|
193 / 400
|
71
|
| 2007 | 445,781
|
39.15
|
127 / 405
|
30
|
| 2011 | 464,512
|
39.34
|
103 / 412
|
18
|
| 2015 | 581,058
|
40.20
|
126 / 431
|
25
|
See also
- Pro-Beijing camp
- Pro-democratic camp (Macau)
- Pan-Blue Coalition (Taiwan)
- Pan-Green Coalition (Taiwan)
- Liberalism in Hong Kong
- Localism in Hong Kong
- Socialism in Hong Kong
References
- ^ Buckley, Chris; Forsythe, Michael (31 August 2014). "China Restricts Voting Reforms for Hong Kong". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ "A more united Democratic Party predicted as Young Turks leave". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. 20 December 2010.
- ^ Wing-kai Chiu, Stephen. Lui, Tai-Lok. The Dynamics of Social Movement in Hong Kong. [2000] (2000). Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 962-209-497-X.
- ^ Pepper, Suzanne (15 November 2010). "Poltiking Hong Kong Style". Retrieved 3 April 2013.
- ^ Luk, Eddie (17 September 2012). "Change on way for Democrats, says Sin". The Standard. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
- ^ Jensen, Lionel M. Weston, Timothy B. [2006] (2006). China's Transformations: The Stories Beyond the Headlines. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-3863-X.
- ^ Note: Each voter was given two votes in the 1991 Election.
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