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On 4 December 2005, tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protested for democracy and called on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage. The protesters demanded the right to directly elect the Chief Executive and all the seats of the Legislative Council. They also urged the government to abolish the appointed seats of the district councils, in response to the limitations of the government's reform proposal. Organised by the Civil Human Rights Front and pro-democracy lawmakers, the protest began at the football pitches in the
Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...
. The march, from the park towards the Central Government Offices in
Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
, started at 3 p.m. There were several estimates of the crowd turnout ranging from 63,000 to over 250,000 (see the section ''Controversy over turnout'' below).


Background

The protest was organised by the Civil Human Rights Front and pro-democracy lawmakers of the territory, to oppose the electoral reform as proposed by Chief Executive Donald Tsang, and to demand the implementation of universal and equal suffrage in Hong Kong. The theme colour for the march was black. Under the current system, the Chief Executive is selected by an 800-member
Election Committee The Election Committee is a Hong Kong electoral college, the function of which is to select the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, to elect 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong ...
, consisting of members (electors) as elected from respective sectors, mainly representing business and professional interests. Only half of the sixty members of the Legislative Council are directly elected by the public, with the rest representing different sectors of the community, mainly business and professionals. In his reform package, revealed in the Constitutional Development Task Force Report No.5 that was widely considered to be backed by Beijing, Tsang proposed to double the number of electors to the Chief Executive election of 2007 to 1600 members and add ten seats to the Legislative Council (to seventy seats). The former would enable all members of district councils, including appointed ones, to be member of the Election Committee and the latter would increase the number of seats elected through geographical and functional constituencies by five each. However, the proposal did not include a clear timetable for universal and equal suffrage, and many doubt it helps to make any meaningful progress in democracy. See also: * Democratisation in Hong Kong *
2004 Hong Kong legislative election The 2004 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was held on 12 September 2004 for members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo). The election returned 30 members from directly elected geographical constituency, geographical constituenci ...


Remarks on the march

Most of the participants in the march comprised ordinary Hong Kong residents with mainstream social and political views. Notable remarks by individuals from the business, social or political
elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...
of Hong Kong included the following. *
Gordon Wu Sir Gordon Wu Ying-sheung,Gordon WU Ying-Sheung biography
- website o ...
, chairman of property developers Hopewell Holdings Ltd, criticised marchers by stating that deciding reform proposals through demonstrations reflect mobocracy rather than the
rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...
. *
Stanley Ho Stanley Ho Hung-sun (; 25 November 192126 May 2020) was a Hong Kong-Macau billionaire businessman. His original patrilineal surname was Bosman, which was later sinicized to 何 (Ho). He was the founder and chairman of SJM Holdings, which owns ...
, gambling magnate in Macau, estimated four days prior to the demonstration that the number of participants would be no more than 50,000. According to Ho, Hong Kong is "not ready" for democracy as most Hongkongers "do not know much about politics". By way of support of this view Ho indicated that he had not himself received political education in Hong Kong between kindergarten and university. * Anson Chan, the former Chief Secretary participated in the march and criticised both the Hong Kong government and Beijing for the lack of real democratic reform.


Controversy over turnout

As in the annual vigil in memory of the
1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
, the
1 July marches The Hong Kong 1 July protests was an annual protest rally originally held by the Civil Human Rights Front from the day of handover in 1997 on the HKSAR establishment day. However, it was not until 2003 that the march drew large public attentio ...
, and other public marches and assemblies, the turnout figure is a matter of controversy, since it is difficult to accurately estimate. With different methods of estimation, the organisers estimated there were ''at least'' 250,000 participants, and the police projected 63,000. A study team from the University of Hong Kong estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people. A University of Hong Kong actuary lecturer and his team estimated 60,000 to 80,000. The different methods used by the organisers and the study teams contributed to discrepancies. The police declined to disclose the method they had adopted, saying that their figure is for internal reference and arrangement.


Aftermath


Rumour of Beijing offer for suffrage in 2017

Pro-democracy lawmaker Ronny Tong said he was contacted by a ''middleman'' and that he would not agree to the 2017 date, because too many leaders will have changed in Hong Kong and Beijing before then.
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 ...
chairman Lee Wing Tat responded to the rumours by saying that 2017 was too late, and 2012 was the latest date he would accept. James To, also of the Democratic Party, said he was contacted by someone in the PRC government asking for his reaction if Beijing proposed "letting Hong Kong have democracy as early as 2012 if conditions are mature, and not later than 2017." It is unknown what To's response was. However, according to Xinhua News Agency, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong responded by saying these reports "are groundless".


The Vote

Report No.5 was voted on by LegCo on 21 December. This legislation needed 40 votes in the 60 seat LegCo to pass. The 25 pro-democracy legislators were expected to vote against it, although there were continuing rumours that some might switch their position and supported it. The report needed 6 pro-democracy legislators supporting it to pass. The radio program
The Tipping Point ''The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference'' is the debut book by Malcolm Gladwell, first published by Little, Brown in 2000. Gladwell defines a tipping point as "the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling po ...
ran a survey on which legislators are most likely to vote for it.Survey from CRHK
Eventually, with the opposition of 24 pro-democracy legislators (except for
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 born ...
who abstained), both the election reform proposals for Chief Executive and LegCo were turned down.


See also

*
2005 Hong Kong electoral reform The 2005 Hong Kong electoral reform was carried out in late 2005 for the selection of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (CE) in 2007 and Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) in 2008. The reform proposals were ultimately voted down by the pro-d ...
*
Tell me (advertisement) 200px''Tell me'' is the title of an advertisement calling for universal suffrage in Hong Kong. It ran once as a full page ad on the front page of most Hong Kong newspapers on 28 October 2005, and inspired many other people and groups in Hong Kon ...
*
Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life pe ...
* Hong Kong Front * Elections in Hong Kong * Pro-democracy camp * 2010 Hong Kong Democracy Protests


References


External links


Website of Civil Human Rights Front
;Press release of the government

*Details of the Fifth Report of the Constitutional Development Task Force

;Media coverage
RTÉBBCAPIHTReutersOhmyNews International
{{DEFAULTSORT:December 2005 Protest For Democracy in Hong Kong History of Hong Kong 2005 in Hong Kong Protest marches in Hong Kong 2005 protests Protests in China December 2005 events in China Hong Kong