A 30-year-old Hong Kong political party that used to lead the territory’s pro-democracy camp before Beijing cracked down on dissent is starting preparations to shut down, its leader said on Thursday.
“We are going to proceed and study on the process and procedure that is needed for the disbanding,” Democratic Party chairman Lo Kin-hei (羅健熙) said.
Lo said the final decision to dissolve the party must be left to a members’ vote, without saying when that would take place.
Photo: AFP
“We considered the overall political environment in Hong Kong and all those future plans that we can foresee, and that is the decision that we make,” Lo told reporters.
The Democratic Party was founded in 1994, near the end of British colonial rule, when Hong Kong’s leading liberal groups merged.
Early leaders of the Democratic Party played a key role in shaping the “one country, two systems” formula, a constitutional arrangement that promised Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy and rights protections.
After the territory was handed over to China in 1997, the party became the most influential voice of opposition in the Hong Kong Legislative Council and led peaceful street demonstrations, but the party’s fortunes declined after Beijing tightened its grip and imposed a national security law, following huge and often violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
“Developing democracy in Hong Kong is always difficult,” Lo said on Thursday. “We see a lot of civil society groups or political parties disbanding.”
Asked whether the party had been pressured by Beijing to fold, Lo said he would not disclose details of internal discussions.
Four of the party’s former lawmakers — including former Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai (胡志偉) — are serving prison sentences after being found guilty of subversion under the national security law last year.
The party no longer holds any legislative seats after Hong Kong revamped its electoral system in 2021 to ensure only “patriots” can take office.
A three-person task force that includes Lo is to study the legal and accounting rules on party dissolution.
The party has 400 members and is not experiencing acute financial stress, Lo said.
A vote to dissolve the party would require the support of 75 percent of meeting participants.
Lo said he hoped Hong Kong can return to values such as “diversity, inclusion and democracy” that underpinned its past success.
Well-known figures from the party include Martin Lee (李柱銘) — hailed by some as Hong Kong’s “Father of Democracy” — as well as Albert Ho (何俊仁), who organized annual vigils to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Hong Kong’s second-largest opposition group, the Civic Party, dissolved in 2023.
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