Democrats alienatedBy Clara Loon Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, vice-chair of the Democratic Party, said, “The Democratic Party fielded me and the other two representatives to run for it because it concerns the whole country. Moreover, our supporters ask us to voice out their opinions.” He said, “However, the Selection Panel was composed of a small group of people. When we decided to run, we did not have confidence to win, unless there were universal participation.”
Courtesy of Express NewsHe said that although they thought they had no chance of winning, he was still surprised that they could not even get enough nominations. He said, “At first more than 10 Election Council members orally promised to nominate us. But they withdrew later.” He reiterated that there was no inconsistency in the Party’s move to stand for the election. He also complained many people wrongly accused the Democrats of violating the constitution with their demands. He said, “Our Party’s platform has never been opposed to one-party dictatorship as accused by some people. Instead, we want the Chinese Government to put ‘power to the people’ and constitutional democracy into action. “We would like to see no particular person or party has any special status, as stated in the constitution of People’s Republic of China.” Prof. Linda Li Che-lan, assistant professor of the Department of Public and Social Administration at the City University of Hong Kong, thinks that the Democrats made a good try. Said she: “The National People’s Congress is a very important and accepted means of reflecting people’s opinions. “As Hong Kong is now part of China, and the Democratic Party is one of the leading political parties in Hong Kong, it should try to voice out Hong Kong people’s opinions in China’s law-making body.” She said there is a fundamental difference between the Democrats’ participation in the Provisional Legislature and the National People’s Congress. She said, “Although the composition of the NPC is not comprehensive, it has a legal basis. However, there has been a heated debate on the legitimacy of the PLC (Provisional Legislative Council).” She added, “The Democratic Party has always tried to take part within the existing institutions. I do not think their participation in the NPC election implies any inconsistency in their strategies of handling relationship with China.” [China's Legislature||China
Law Market] |
