The Neo Democrats was a
pro-democracy
Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...
,
localist
Localism describes a range of political philosophies which prioritize the local. Generally, localism supports local production and consumption of goods, local control of government, and promotion of local history, local culture and local identi ...
political group in Hong Kong composed mainly of former and disenchanted members of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
New Territories East branch after the
2012 constitutional reform proposals. It had held one seat in the Legislative Council until
Gary Fan
Gary Fan Kwok-wai (; born 30 October 1966) is a Hong Kong politician. He was the member of Legislative Council from 2012 to 2016 and from 2018 to 2019 after winning the 2018 by-election for New Territories East. He is also a former member of ...
lost his re-election in the
2016 Legislative Council election.
[Democrats lick wounds as 30 reform radicals quit]
, The Standard, Colleen Lee, 20 December 2010 Fan won the seat back in the
2018 by-election, but lost his seat after a court declared that he was not duly elected.
It held 8 seats in the
District Councils before its dissolution on 26 June 2021.
Formation
The Neo Democrats identified themselves initially as a grouping within the Democratic Party, opposed to its rejection of the
Five Constituencies Referendum
The 2010 Hong Kong Legislative Council by-election was an election held on 16 May 2010 in Hong Kong for all five geographical constituencies of the Legislative Council (LegCo), triggered by the resignation of five pan-democrat Legislative Coun ...
and concessions towards
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
that the party was offering in the run-up to the LegCo vote on the
Hong Kong government's proposals for democratic reform. It said it aimed to repair the damaged relationship between the Democratic Party and its pan-democratic allies.
As the Neo Democrats styled themselves a continuation of the
United Democrats of Hong Kong
The United Democrats of Hong Kong (; UDHK) was a short-lived political party in Hong Kong founded in 1990 as the united front of the liberal democracy forces in preparation of the 1991 first ever direct election for the Legislative Council of ...
, they chose to found the group on an anniversary of both the dissolution of UDHK and the foundation of the Democratic Party.
Then on 19 December 2010, thirty members including seven district councillors in the
New Territories East resigned from the Democratic Party to formally create the new group. The departees included former party vice-chairman
Chan King-ming
Chan King-ming is a Hong Kong politician and academic. He served as the vice-chairman of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong from 2004 to 2006. He is also an associate professor in the department of biochemistry and Environmental Science Progr ...
and at least five other founding members, together representing around ten per cent of the Democratic Party's district councillors and just under five per cent of its membership.
[
]
Organisation and membership
Members of the group include Gary Fan
Gary Fan Kwok-wai (; born 30 October 1966) is a Hong Kong politician. He was the member of Legislative Council from 2012 to 2016 and from 2018 to 2019 after winning the 2018 by-election for New Territories East. He is also a former member of ...
, Leung Li and Cheung Kwok-keung, and former Democratic Party vice-chairman Chan King-ming
Chan King-ming is a Hong Kong politician and academic. He served as the vice-chairman of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong from 2004 to 2006. He is also an associate professor in the department of biochemistry and Environmental Science Progr ...
.
The Neo Democrats' leadership comprises four convenors who serve six-month terms. Convenors currently include Gary Fan.
Immigration and localism
The Neo Democrats represented by Gary Fan
Gary Fan Kwok-wai (; born 30 October 1966) is a Hong Kong politician. He was the member of Legislative Council from 2012 to 2016 and from 2018 to 2019 after winning the 2018 by-election for New Territories East. He is also a former member of ...
have called for the government to take back the approval rights on one-way permits from Chinese authorities and to reduce the quota of such permits for applicants not under the family reunion category. Fan also refers to immigrants from mainland China and the quota of 150 daily permits as "the root of the housing problem".
In September 2013, Gary Fan co-sponsored a controversial ad which claimed that cutting people from the source of immigration would help the people of Hong Kong to get to the bottom of the housing problem, while rejecting claims of bias or discrimination against mainlanders, despite condemnation from the Equal Opportunities Commission. Fan later introduced a motion on adhering to the need to "put Hong Kong people first" in formulating policies, but the motion was ultimately defeated. Fan's motion was rejected by both camps of pro-Beijing and pan-democrats.
Electoral politics
In the 2015 District Council election, Neo Democrats became the best performers when 15 out of their 16 candidates fielded won, the total number of seats having increased from 7 to 15 since the previous election. They became one of the most successful groups within the pan-democrats camp.
Frankie Lam
Frankie Lam Man-lung (born 19 December 1967) is a Hong Kong actor. He entered a singing contest and subsequently, signed a contract with TVB. He left TVB in 2011 to join HKTV.
Lam married Hong Kong actress Kenix Kwok on 10 March 2004. Their ...
returned to Neo Democrat in April 2016. He is a Sai Kung District Council
The Sai Kung District Council () is the district council for the Sai Kung District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Sai Kung District Council currently consists of 31 members, of which the district is divided into 29 constituen ...
member and was a Neo Democrat member in 2010, before the group formally split from the Democratic Party. Lam decided to remain in the Democratic Party until 2016, due to Neo Democrat is the largest pan-democrat party in Sai Kung District Council.
In the 2016 Legislative Council election, the Neo Democrats initially planned to field candidates in Kowloon East
Kowloon East is the eastern part of Kowloon, covering the Wong Tai Sin District, Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong District, with Kowloon City District occasionally included.
History
The boundary of Kowloon East is not strictly defined and hence varies ...
, New Territories West
New Territories West (NTW) is the western part of Hong Kong's New Territories, covering Yuen Long, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsing and the Islands District.
History
Settlements in the area, except the Islands District, have been connected by the ...
, District Council (Second)
The District Council (Second) functional constituency () was a functional constituency in the elections for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong which was created in the 2012 constitutional reform package. It was the largest functional constituen ...
, as well as seek for re-election in its incumbent New Territories East seat. It later decided to field two lists in New Territories East and District Council (Second) "super seat" despite the group's breakaway from the Democratic Party due to its opposition to the creation of the five "super seats" in 2010. Kwan Wing-yip, Neo Democrats' District Council (Second) candidate, refused to join the pan-democracy camp's coordination plan initiated by Benny Tai
Benny Tai Yiu-ting (; born 12 July 1964) is a Hong Kong legal scholar, political figure, and democracy activist. He was an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong.
From 2013, Tai launched and is known for his initiation of ...
to avoid splitting the pro-democracy votes, abandoned his campaign one day before the election due to the pressure to help the pan-democracy camp to win three seats. As a result, Kwan's ticket won only 1.24 per cent of the vote share and its sole legislator Gary Fan lost his re-election in New Territories East by winning 5.44 per cent of the vote share. Three Sha Tin District Council
The Sha Tin District Council is the district council for the Sha Tin District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Sha Tin District Council currently consists of 42 members, of which the district is divided into 41 constituencies, ...
lors, Billy Chan Shiu-yeung, Chiu Chu-pong and Yau Man-chun, defected to former legislator Andrew Cheng
Andrew Cheng Kar-foo () (born 28 April 1960 in Hong Kong) was a Hong Kong politician and solicitor. He is a former Democratic Party member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong representing the New Territories East geographical constituency.
...
during the election were expelled from the party on 6 September.
Fan returned to the Legislative Council in the 2018 New Territories by-election following the disqualification of localist Baggio Leung
Sixtus "Baggio" Leung Chung-hang (; born 7 August 1986) is a Hong Kong activist and politician. He is the convenor of Youngspiration, a localist political group in Hong Kong that leans towards Hong Kong independence, and is also leader and ...
of Youngspiration
Youngspiration is a localist political party in Hong Kong founded in 2015. It emerged after the 2014 Hong Kong protests (often dubbed as the "Umbrella Revolution") with an agenda of protection of Hong Kong people's interests and culture against ...
over the Legislative Council oath-taking controversy in March. He was elected with more than 180,000 votes, defeating the pro-China common candidate Tang Ka-piu
"Bill" Tang Ka-piu (, born 29 October 1979) is a Hong Kong politician who currently served as a legislative councillor and district councillor (2007–2019).
Political career Legislative Council
He was a member of the Legislative Council of H ...
of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions
The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (HKFTU) is a pro-Beijing labour and political group established in 1948 in Hong Kong. It is the oldest and largest labour group in Hong Kong with over 420,000 members in 253 affiliates and associated ...
(FTU) and the (DAB). He was then removed from the Legislative Council after the Court of Final Appeal declined to hear an appeal from a lower court which held that he was not duly elected as the Returning Officer for the election disqualified another candidate who was not given an opportunity to respond.
Disbandment
The Neo Democrats announced the disbandment on 26 June 2021. The group said Hong Kong had undergone drastic changes over the past two years and the political environment now was much worse than before, and most of its district councillors agreed to dissolve the party.
Former Neo Democrat members Gary Fan, Roy Tam and Ben Chung are among 47 pro-democracy figures charged with subversion for taking part in the camp's primaries for Legco elections last year. The three have been remanded in custody since late February.
Electoral performance
Legislative council elections
District council elections
See also
* Democratic Party (Hong Kong)
The Democratic Party (DP) is a centre-left liberal political party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Lo Kin-hei, it is the flagship party in the pro-democracy camp and currently has 7 elected representatives in the District Councils.
The party was es ...
* Pan-democracy camp
The pro-democracy camp, also known as the pan-democracy camp, is a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic L ...
* Claudia Mo
Claudia Mo (born Mo Man-ching on 18 January 1957), also known as Claudia Bowring, is a Hong Kong journalist and politician, a member of the pan-democracy camp. She represented the Kowloon West geographical constituency, until November 2020 wh ...
* HK First
HK First is a localist political party in Hong Kong. It had one representative in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Claudia Mo, a former pan-democratic Civic Party member. It was founded in 2013 by two pro-democracy legislators, Claudia M ...
References
External links
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{{Hong Kong political parties
Political parties in Hong Kong
Political parties established in 2010
2010 establishments in Hong Kong
Political parties disestablished in 2021
2021 disestablishments in Hong Kong
Liberal parties in Hong Kong
Localist parties in Hong Kong
Breakways of Democratic Party (Hong Kong)