HK Election fallout empowers democracy group

Wu Xuer and Sonya Bryskine
Epoch Times Staff

The May 16 by-election in Hong Kong that attempted to bring the region one step closer to democracy has received sharp criticism from pro-Beijing supporters, while giving more ammunition to democratic groups to push for further reforms.

The elections aimed at re-instating five pro-democracy candidates after they stepped down from Parliament in January. They hoped that the ballot will become a national de-facto referendum in their efforts to push for Universal Suffrage – a move to elect the head of government without Beijing』s involvement.

The Hong Kong Government reported 18.1 per cent voter turnout, or almost half a million people casting their ballots.

The result, however, stands much lower than previous elections. In 2008, 45 per cent turnout was reported for the Legislative elections.

While all five candidates – Tanya Chan, Alan Leong, Leung Kwok-hung, Raymond Wong and Albert Chan – won the election, the lack of interest has created a divisive situation.

Rita Fan, the incumbent Hong Kong Deputy to the Eleventh National People』s Congress of China, commented that the low voter turnout shows the public is not interested in direct elections.

Some disagree. Li Zi, a senior journalist and commentator on Chinese affairs, says the numbers were still significant, especially since the pro-Beijing parties blocked any efforts to publicise the elections.

「Competition stimulates attention. The by-election lacked competition to drive the public attention,」 said Mr Li.

「Donald Tsang announced that he would not cast any vote. The entire DAB [Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong] refused to join the by-election. This has resulted in low media attention.」

Mr Li added that Rita Fan and Chun Ying Liang have made comments to deny the public』s wish for a direct election, the will of the five pro-democracy candidates to return to the legislative council and to deny the significance of the by-election.

Mr Li also believes that despite the efforts to suppress the vote, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) fears the elections, as it may put a dent in their hold over Hong Kong.

「It [CCP] has resorted to all sorts of tactics to interfere with the by-election. I didn』t expect that the central government to be so afraid of the by-election.」

Just a show

Meanwhile on Monday, May 24, the Chinese Central Government met with three members of Hong Kong』s Democratic Party. This was the first time the two sides have come together for a face-to-face discussion on electoral reform.

While Beijing supporters played up the meeting as a big breakthrough, others remain less optimistic.

「Nothing will come out of it. Never expect anything good from the Chinese Communist Party. It is only putting on a show to create an illusion that Beijing is tolerant and to isolate the left-wing members of the pro-democracy camp. But Beijing knows that it will never reach any agreement because it does not want to change. Its so-called political reform is designed to avoid any actual reform!」 said Mr Li.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the meeting, with Li Gang, deputy director of Beijing』s liaison office in Hong Kong, lasted for two hours and was conducted in Mandarin.

According to Emily Lau, a veteran Hong Kong lawmaker and one of the three Democratic Party members at the meeting, the conversation remained focused on democratic reform, but 「nothing unexpected」 was said by either side and Mr Li 「toed the party line」, reported The Wall Street Journal.

TV debate questioned

In another development, Donald Tsang has officially invited a member of the opposition Civic Party to join him in a live TV debate. This is also the first time that such a public discussion will take place.

Mr Tsang hoped to help the Hong Kong residents understand the pros and cons for the political reform policies proposed by the Legislative Council through the 1-hour broadcast.

Audrey Eu, the head of Civic Party, has formally accepted the invitation. She stated that she will be discussing the issue of whether to keep or abolish the functional constituency. She believed functional constituency was the biggest obstacle to universal and equal suffrage, and that it has to be abolished to reach the final goal of universal election.

However, other democracy lawmakers have questioned Mr Tsang』s intentions. Mr Albert Ho, president of the Democratic Party, expressed concern as to why the Democratic Party, the largest opposition party, was not invited.

「I hope Chief Executive Tsang Yam-Kuen will not get the wrong impression that the Democratic Party will be swayed in our stand simply because the central Government expressed willingness to communicate with the Democratic Party…Let me tell everyone, we will not.」

Political commentator Paul Lin also doubted the move.

「The fact that Hong Kong Government had a meeting with Beijing after this round of general election and the following invitation to Audrey Eu means they are trying to break up people. In this regards, I feel they have truly mastered the Communist Party』s culture!

「The Chinese Communist Party wanted to win the hearts of Hong Kong people by making people feel the CCP has kind intention and that it is the democratic groups that object political reform,」 said Mr Lin.

Some people said this TV debate is not going to be a normal political debate, because there will be no presence of the general public and it will be controlled by the Government. If anyone accepts the invitation, he or she will end up helping Mr Tsang to set up a political show.

Paul Lin, however, holds just the opposite opinion. 「No one dares to object to others promoting freedom and democracy. The democratic groups have the advantages. The key issue is how to make good preparation for the debate.」

Mr Lin believes that the Democratic groups must stay united if they are to achieve any result from the public stunt.

「In this respect, the Alliance for Universal Suffrage and Civic & League Party ought to have a joint meeting to discuss how to do well in the incoming debate, as a good representation of the unison between different democratic groups. It should be so prepared that the opinions raised at the debate represent democratic groups, instead of an individual party.」