Political parties and political participation in Hong Kong Speaker: Fong Chi Hang, Brian

Biography Lecturer, Division of Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong Vice Chairman, SynergyNet Convenor, Communication Group of the Alliance for Universal Suffrage Part-time Member, Central Policy Unit of HKSAR Government

Contents A theoretical overview of political party and political participation Political parties and party politics in Hong Kong Constraints on the development of party politics in Hong Kong Impacts of underdevelopment of party politics

A theoretical overview of political party and political participation

Definition of political participation In political science, political participation is defined as “actions of private citizens seeking to influence or support government and politics” (Milbrath and Goel, 1977). Different forms of political participation: - Running for electoral offices - Organizing and joining political parties - Forming and joining interest groups / civil society groups - Casting votes in elections - Engaging in protests and rallies - Making phone calls to radio talk shows, Internet mobilization.

Political participation in colonial Hong Kong Political participation is largely affected by the nature of political system and political culture. In colonial Hong Kong, political participation was very limited because of the closed nature of the colonial governance system and “refugee mentality” of the local population. The situation has changed since 1980s ……

Definition of political party In political science, a political party is defined as “a group of people that is organized for the purpose of winning government power, by electoral or other means” (Heywood, 2002).

Four characteristics of political party Parties aim to exercise government power by winning government power; Parties are organized bodies with a formal “card carrying” membership; Parties typically adopt broad issue focus, addressing each of the major areas of government policy; and Parties are united by shared political preferences and a general ideological identity.

Functions of political party Representation Recruitment of political leaders Policy initiation Interest articulation and aggregation Political mobilization and socialization Organization of government

Political parties and party politics in Hong Kong

The development of party politics in Hong Kong The Sino-British negotiations in 1982 – 84 The Beijing democracy movement in 1989 The landslide victory of UDHK in the 1991 Legco election

The development of party politics in Hong Kong Debates over Chris Patten’s constitutional reforms in 1992 – 94 The reorganization of political parties after 1997

Hong Kong’s political spectrum In most of the countries, political parties are distinguished according to their ideological orientation, i.e. the left-right political spectrum.

Pro-democracy VS pro-China Political parties in Hong Kong are not distinguished according to the left-right political spectrum, but are divided into two major camps according to their political positions on: (1) Democratic development; (2) Attitudes towards the Beijing and Hong Kong Governments; and (3) Political values.

Pro-democracy VS pro-China Position on Democratic Development Attitudes towards Beijing and HKSAR Government Political values Major Political Parties Pro- democracy camp Advocates early implementation of universal suffrage Adopts a more critical attitude towards the CPG and the HKSAR Government Put emphasis on values such as human rights, civil liberty and rule of rule DP CP LSD ADPL Pro-China Adopts a more conservative approach towards constitutional reform Enjoys a better relationship with the Chinese and Hong Kong Governments Stress on values like stability and prosperity with little emphasis on human rights and the rule of law issues DAB LP

Hong Kong’s political spectrum

Parties’ different position - Political VS socio-economic issues 法案 / 議案動議 / 議案修訂 (2004 – 2008) 民主黨 公民黨 民建聯 自由黨 表決 結果 普選行政長官 重點：立法會認為2012年適合普選行政長官(動議) 支持 棄權 否決 普選立法會 重點：立法會認為2012年或之前適合以普選方式產生立法會所有議員(動議) 反對 香港電台轉型為「香港公共廣播公司」 重點：促請政府就香港電台未來的角色、定位和發展路向作出檢討，積極研究把香港電台轉型為「香港公共廣播公司」(動議) 棄權 / 沒有 投票 《截取通訊及監察條例草案》 重點：二讀草案 通過 Source: SynergyNet, 2008

Parties’ different position - Political VS socio-economic issues 法案 / 議案動議 / 議案修訂 (2004 – 2008) 民主黨 公民黨 民建聯 自由黨 表決 結果 反對開徵商品及服務稅 重點：反對開徵商品及服務稅 (動議) 支持 通過 制定公平競爭法例 重點：促請政府檢討現行公平競爭政策，研究制定公平競爭法例的可行性，以保障香港的營商環境(動議) 反對 否決 最低工資、最高工時 重點：促請政府落實最低工資、最高工時(動議) Source: SynergyNet, 2008

Constraints on the development of party politics in Hong Kong

Major obstacles on party development The CPG’s anti-party stance The existence of Functional Constituency seats in the Legco Effect of the proportional representation electoral system Abolition of the Municipal Councils Restrictions on the power of Legislative Council after 1997 Hong Kong people’s skepticism about partisan politics

The CPG’s anti-party stance The CPG does not want to see the formation of a governing party. Rather, the CPG is more inclined to a bipartisan Chief Executive who brokers interests between various local political forces.

The existence of Functional Constituency seats in the Legco Half of the seats in the Legco are elected by FC with very narrow franchise. Number of independents Legislative Councillors 95 - 97 98 - 00 00 - 04 04 - 08 DP 19 13 12 9 DAB 6 LP 10 8 CP - Other pro-democracy groups 5 4 Other pro-China groups 7 3 Independents 16 18 Source: Ma, 2007

The existence of Functional Constituency seats in the Legco The FC systems provides good protection to the business sector and hinders the development of pro-business parties.

Effect of the proportional representation electoral system Fighting for higher positions on the party list under the PR system. Encouraged independents to run and large parties to split lists. It weakens the solidarity and centralization of political parties.

Abolition of the Municipal Councils Before 1997: three levels of councils (District Boards, Municipal Councils and Legco) After 1997: two levels of councils (District Councils and Legco) This created a big gap in upward mobility for party politicians.

Restrictions on the power of Legislative Council after 1997 Article 74 of the Basic Law The voting-by-group system

Restrictions on the power of Legislative Council after 1997 Declining number of private member’s bills Composition 1995 - 97 1998 - 2004 2004 - 08 Private member’s bill proposed 53 12 9 Private member’s bill passed 26 Private member’s bill success rate 49.1% 100% Source: Ma, 2007

Restrictions on the power of Legislative Council after 1997 Private members’ bills passed in 2004-08 Source: SynergyNet, 2008

Restrictions on the power of Legislative Council after 1997 Declining success rates of member’s bill amendments Composition 1991 - 95 1995 - 97 1998 - 2000 2000 - 04 Members’ amendment proposed 219 138 102 46 Members’ amendment passed 136 98 15 5 Members’ amendment success rate 62.1% 71% 14.7% 10.9% Source: Ma, 2007

Restrictions on the power of Legislative Council after 1997 Number of motions rejected under voting-by-group system in 2004-08 Legco term Number of Motions Tabled Number of Motions Rejected Rejecting Rate 2004-2005 59 11 16.9% 2005-2006 58 12 20.7% 2006-2007 56 19.6% 2007-2008 36 4 11.1% Source: SynergyNet, 2008

Hong Kong people’s skepticism about partisan politics Hong Kong people remain skeptical about party politics and the term “political party” carries negative connotations in people’s minds. Source: Lingnan University, 2009

Impacts of underdevelopment of party politics Problems in governance: The lack of governing party in Hong Kong points to the fact that the HKSAR Government has no effective political machine to engineer social support for its policy programmes. Problems in recruitment of political leaders: Local parties are less effective in training and recruiting political talents.

Summary of the lecture Political party is a group of people that is organized for the purpose of winning government power. Political parties in Hong Kong are divided into two major camps according to their political positions on democratic development and attitudes towards the Beijing and Hong Kong Governments.

Summary of the lecture Party development in Hong Kong is hindered by a number of factors, including the CPG’s anti-party stance, people’s skepticism about partisan politics and the undemocratic nature of Hong Kong’s political system. Underdevelopment of political parties has already brought about negative impacts on Hong Kong’s political development and governance.

Further reading