HK Should Capitalize on Humbling of 'Pan-Dems'
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Tuesday, March 13, 2018 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION 8 LEGCO BY-ELECTION TO THE POINT HK should capitalize on STAFF WRITER Message is clear for opposition humbling of ‘pan-dems’ The Legislative Council by-election returned in the geographical constituen- on Sunday, held to refi ll four of the six cies under LegCo’s separate voting system seats vacated after legislators-elect were showed voters were generally satisfi ed with disqualifi ed for improper oath-taking, the new style of governance displayed by Sticking to their ‘anti-disqualifi cation’ has turned out to be a great embarrass- Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet- ment for the opposition camp. For the ngor and her administration. And voters fi rst time in the history of the Hong Kong were not deceived by the opposition’s stri- and ‘anti-Communist’ themes caused Special Administrative Region, a pro- dent attempts to demonize all issues with establishment candidate won in a single- a mainland connection, such as the ongo- opposition to su er a heavy erosion of seat geographical constituency by-elec- ing legislation process of the co-location Tony Kwok tion — Vincent Cheng Wing-shun of the arrangement of boundary control facilities The author is the honorary fellow and Democratic Alliance for the Betterment for the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong voter support, Tony Kwok writes adjunct professor of HKU SPACE, a council member of the Association of and Progress of Hong Kong emerged as Express Rail Link. Hong Kong and Macao Studies and an victor in the Kowloon West constituency. The election outcome this time is yet fter casting his vote cation slogan which many voters fi nd adviser of Our Hong Kong Foundation. The embarrassment did not come only another manifestation of the continuous in the Legislative unacceptable. He was a deputy commissioner of ICAC. from the pro-establishment candidate’s erosion of the so-called golden principle Council by-election Also in the New Territories East victory in Kowloon West disproving the of 60-40 voting pattern (in favor of the on Sunday, former constituency, a traditional strong- myth that by-elections are always in the opposition) due to voters’ gradual real- chief executive Tung hold of the opposition they had 57.6 opposition’s favor. More importantly, it ization that the cause the opposition Chee-hwa made a percent of votes and pocketed six out The pro-establishment came from the opposition’s bid to present upholds, impressive as it may seem on public appeal. He of the nine constituency seats in the camp should take the disqualifi cation issue as the major the surface, is not the way forward for said: “The era of quarrelling should 2016 general election. But on this theme of this by-election while, ironi- Hong Kong. Abe ended. Advocacies of Hong Kong occasion, their representative Gary advantage of their cally, the key opponent Cheng defeated To gain the confi dence of Hong Kong independence and self-determination Fan Kwok-wai, of the Neo-Democrats, in his constituency was none other than people as well as the central govern- will cost the city a heavy toll.” He won with 183,762 votes — just 44 enhanced position and Edward Yiu Chung-yim, the only can- ment, the opposition must acknowledge called on people to vote for can- percent of all valid votes. It clearly seek to amend LegCo didate from among the six disqualifi ed the SAR’s true constitutional role under didates who were “constructive, showed a substantial decline of their opposition legislators-elect. “one country, two systems”, abide by the pragmatic and true-heartedly serv- voter appeal, as many voters are put rules of procedure to The particularly low turnout — 43 Constitution and Basic Law, and work for ing Hong Kong into the Legislative o by their “anti-disqualifi cation” percent — showed most voters gave a Hong Kong’s long-term prosperity and Council”. campaign. put the house in order. cold shoulder to the opposition’s wishful stability. Only then will they reverse their His appeal is most important and It is gratifying to see a return They can start with en- thinking of turning the by-election into current decline and become a construc- timely — opposition parties had used to rationality in the Architectural, some kind of “referendum” on the dis- tive opposition. the by-election as a “de facto referen- Surveying, Planning and Landscape forcing a proper dress qualifi cation issue; even their own sup- For those who have just been elected, dum” over LegCo members’ disquali- functional constituency where pro- code and prohibiting porters were not interested by this theme as well as those already serving in the fi cation saga, with “anti-disqualifi ca- establishment candidate Tony Tse as only about 60 percent of them came to legislative chamber, the message is clear. tion and anti-Communist” as their Wai-chuen beat opposition rival Paul placards on members’ the ballot box. What the more than 900,000 registered campaign theme. Zimmerman, enlarging the camp’s In Sunday’s by-election the opposition voters who cast their ballots on Sunday Such an anti-Communist stance dominance in the functional group to tables and unjustifi ed has only been able to win half of the four want them to do is what they are sup- used to work in previous LegCo 25 against 10. fi libusters. seats contested — in three geographical posed to do — pass laws and appropri- geographical constituency elections, The Kowloon West win lets the constituencies and one functional con- ate funds necessary for Hong Kong to garnering them votes with a ratio of pro-establishment camp continue stituency. progress. No more fi libustering. No more 6 to 4 over pro-establishments oppo- leading the geographical group by The opposition’s failure to win back sidetracking. Whoever fails to do this will nents. However, as China strengthens 17 to 16 seats, thus taking away the review should be lodged as soon as the crucial power of veto among those pay for it at the ballot box next time. and gains respect on the world stage opposition’s veto power under LegCo’s possible to strip him of his LegCo more and more Hong Kong people split-voting rule, which they had often membership. appreciate the extraordinary achieve- abused in the past. Au is commonly regarded as a ments of the country under the Com- The pro-establishment camp should representative of the young political munist Party of China’s leadership, take advantage of their enhanced party Demosisto, which advocated laying to rest the “pan-democrats’” position and seek to amend LegCo “Hong Kong independence” and “self- former electoral winning formula. rules of procedure to put the house in determination”. The party is in turn order. They can start with enforcing supported by foreign forces. Hence Why Sunday’s poll result That was starkly brought home in the geographical constituency election, a proper dress code and prohibit- his win would likely encourage this when pro-establishment candidate ing placards on members’ tables and radical political party to be more Vincent Cheng Wing-shun achieved unjustifi ed fi libusters. LegCo should aggressive in pursuing their political an unprecedented victory over the also seek a refund of expenses from goals. It thus needs to be monitored was a landmark victory opposition candidate in Kowloon disqualifi ed former member Yiu. more closely and accountability be West, where he took home 107,479 However, it should be noted that in made as to the source of his political votes, over anti-disqualifi cation cham- the Architectural, Surveying, Planning funding for the election. y-election? What by-election? Few pion Edward Yiu Chung-yim’s 105,060 and Landscape functional constituen- In this by-election, only 904,000 of people really care about the by- votes. This result is most encouraging cy, loser Zimmerman had 2,345 votes the 2.1 million registered voters in the election which has just taken place and demonstrated a drastic shift in against Tony Tse’s 2,929. It is hard to four constituencies cast their ballots; on Sunday, March 11. It seems public sentiment and a gradual return understand why there are 2,345 pro- the turnout was merely 43 percent. If Bthat the media do not care, and TVB did to rationality in local politics. It also fessionals in this constituency who Hong Kong really wants to push for not hold any debates among candidates. showed that playing the anti-Commu- would choose a non-professional as greater democracy, they must dem- Even candidates themselves participating nism card will no longer work in local their LegCo representative. E orts onstrate they are at least prepared to in the campaigns behaved somewhat half- Lau Nai-keung politics. should be made to ascertain their sacrifi ce 15 minutes of their time to heartedly. The author is a veteran current a airs com- Even in the Hong Kong Island motive and whether a better under- walk to their nearby polling station As a result, the overall turnout rate was a mentator. constituency, the pro-establishment standing of the huge development to vote! Hong Kong should seriously disappointingly low 43 percent — a far cry New People’s Party candidate Judy potential for them in the Greater Bay consider following Singapore’s exam- from the 60 percent level which is normal Chan Ka-pui only su ered a marginal Area project would change their atti- ple of mandatory voting. in a general election. The pro-establishment loss to Au Nok-hin, who had all the tude toward the Chinese mainland. As a fi nal observation, this by- Conventional wisdom has it that a low heavyweights of the opposition camp Hong Kong Island winner Au Nok- election cost HK$500 million to turn-out would favor pro-establishment camp has similar prob- coming out in full force to campaign hin was found to have burnt the Basic stage.