Hong Kong democrats are struggling to survive in current social environment.
By Mike Chu
The last two opposition political parties in Hong Kong vow to fight on despite facing heavy pressure and increasingly tightening political space.
The League of Social Democrats (LSD) has been a frequent target of law enforcement agencies, despite massively downscaling its activities since national security law was imposed in the city in 2020.
Known for its relatively radical direct actions, whether in the street or within Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, the centre-left party has been repeatedly accused and fined for raising funds and displaying banners without a permit.
“We were fined more than 30 times for various charges, such as illegal fundraising and displaying banners without permission. Ten volunteers also received penalties for setting up street booths,” party chairperson Chan Po-ying says.
“We were not charged for similar actions before 2020,” Chan adds.
In a recent court case, six members and volunteers from the party were charged for raising funds and displaying posters last year on April 2 and 30 and May 28 at the intersection of Great George Street and East Point Road in Causeway Bay and outside Wan Chai MTR station.
The poster in question was a plain black banner.
They also find it hard to stage protests. In May 2024 they gathered outside the West Kowloon Law Courts Building to show support to the 47 pan-democrats who joined the primary election and were arrested for conspiracy to commit subversion. The case is sometimes referred to as Hong Kong 47.
However, Chan and other party members were arrested and kept by the police for more than 30 hours before they started their protest, and were later granted bail for HK$2,000. They are yet to be prosecuted.
The party has zero presence in the institution for years now. Chan’s husband, Leung Kwok-hung “Long Hair” was disqualified from the Legco in 2016 for making an invalid oath and two LSD members resigned from the district council in 2021.
Leung, a founding member of the party established in 2006, was among 47 activists charged with conspiracy to commit subversion for joining an unofficial primary in 2020 to pick candidates who can run for the Legco. He is now behind bars after being found guilty of subversion.
“The absence of a widely recognised political figure means we could not grab the public’s attention and obtain votes and funding, and we could not unite the people to speak out,” Chan says.
Another opposition party, the Democratic Party, also struggles to find their way into the councils.
Known for its moderate proposition and long history of success in elections, the Democratic party won a landslide victory in the 2019 district council election. They got 91 seats out of the total 452 seats, and gained a majority in eight out of 18 districts, The party came out as the largest party in the council.
However, the party failed to secure enough nominations to run in last year’s district council election under a revamped electoral rule. It was the first time for pan-democrats to be absent from the city’s district-level elections since joining in 1985.
In order to join the race, a candidate had to secure at least three nominations from each of the three committees, the Area Committees, the District Fight Crime Committees, and the District Fire Safety Committees. Members from the three local-level committees were all appointed by the government.
“We tried to get nominations from the three committees. But we could not find the contact of the members,” says Lo Kin-hei, chairperson of the Democratic Party.
And the turnout rate in the 2023 district council election dropped to a historic low of 27.59 percent from the historic high of 71.23 percent in 2019 despite the government more than doubling its spending in promoting the election from the 2015 and 2019 elections.
Without votes and apparent public support, Lo admits he sometimes loses interest in continuing doing his job. But he stays regardless.
“I love this place! I believe I can still make it better, even though what I do right now is not so useful,” Lo says.
“We believe we are still responsible to speak to the government on behalf of the Hong Kong people, even if we do not have a place in both councils,” Lo says.
Noting that people in Hong Kong no longer believe their voices will be heard and can influence the government’s decision, LSD chairperson Chan says, “We hope we will be the one to speak out when no one dares to speak.”
Edited by Enya So
Sub-edited by Carrie Lock
