The Social Democratic Forum (, SDF) was a short-lived political group in Hong Kong formed by the radical faction 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 ...

. It consisted mostly the "Young Turks" faction of the Democratic Party which took a more pro-grassroots and street action approaches. It ceased to exist in April 2002 when most members joined The Frontier.

History

It was formed in the background of the intra-party struggles in the

in 2000. The factional struggle began in the 1998 Democratic Party leadership election where the Young Turks who believed in more pro-grassroots and radical approaches launched a "coup d'etat", supporting trade unionist

Lau Chin-shek Lau Chin-shek (born 12 September 1944 in Guangzhou, Guangdong with family root in Shunde, Guangdong) is the President of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions and a vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee. He was bo ...

to run against incumbent Vice-Chairman

Anthony Cheung Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

who was leader of the

Meeting Point Meeting Point ( Chinese: 匯點) was a liberal political organisation and party in Hong Kong formed by a group of former student activists in the 1970s and intellectuals for the discussion for the Sino-British negotiation on the question of Hon ...

faction who believed in pro-middle class and moderate methods. The intra-party struggle intensified when

Andrew To Andrew To Kwan-hang (; born 7 February 1966) is a Hong Kong politician and activist. He is the former chairman of the League of Social Democrats and former member of the Wong Tai Sin District Council. Early life, education and student activis ...

proposed to put the minimum wage legislation on the 2000 Legislative Council election platform but was defeated by the Mainstreamers faction. The Young Turks faction were discontent with the monopoly of the Central Committee by the party leaders and the party's position on grassroots issues, as well as lack of financial support from the party. Led by Convenor

Fung Chi-wood Fung Chi-wood (, 23 August 1956) was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Regional Council, Shatin District Board Member, and a priest of the Anglican Church in Hong Kong. He was famous for leading the movement against the Daya Ba ...

, SDF core members included Andrew To and Lau San-ching. The SDF took an active role in the campaign against

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Tung Chee-hwa Tung Chee-hwa (; born 7 July 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He is currently a vice-chairman of the Chin ...

seeking for second term, co-founding the Hong Kong Democratic Development Network and Coalition Against Secord Term which opposed the unfair Chief Executive election. It protested the "small-circle" Election Committee subsector by-elections and protested against the uncontested election which saw Tung Chee-hwa re-elected for the second term. In February 2002, the SDF and The Frontier issued a joint platform, demanding amendment of the Basic Law and introducing referendum, protecting judicial independence, introducing competition law,

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The ...

and laws protecting the poor and women. On 17 April 2002, the SDF general meeting announced dissolution of the SDF, in which 25 members including convenor Fung Chi-wood, deputy Steve Chan Kwok-leung, Andrew To, Leung Wing-kuen, Tsui Pak-tai and Lam Sam-shing who had already joined the Frontier, with about 25 other associates, in total of 50 members would join The Frontier, in which 42 would become the party members.

Notable members

* Steve Chan Kwok-leung * Chui Pak-tai *

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 ...

* Comas Kwong Kwok-chuen * Lam Sum-shing * Lau San-ching * Leung Wing-kuen *

Tsang Kin-shing Tsang Kin-shing (; born 1957), nicknamed "The Bull" () by his supporters, is a Hong Kong politician who formerly served as a member of the Legislative Council and later the Eastern District Council. He is most well known as the founder of the con ...

* Eric Wong Chung-ki

References

{{Hong Kong political parties 2000 establishments in Hong Kong 2002 disestablishments in Hong Kong Breakways of Democratic Party (Hong Kong) Defunct political parties in Hong Kong Liberal parties in Hong Kong Political parties disestablished in 2002 Political parties established in 2000 Social democratic parties in Hong Kong