Democratic Party (HK) leadership election, 2012

Democratic Party (HK) leadership election
Hong Kong
16 December 2012
 
Candidate Emily Lau Sin Chung-kai Au Nok-hin
Percentage 50.3% 44.9% 4.7%
Chairman before election

Emily Lau (acting)

 Elected Chairman

Emily Lau

The Democratic Party leadership election was held on 16 December 2012 for the leadership including chairman, two vice-chairman posts and 27 members of the 10th Central Committee of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong. The incumbent acting Chairwomen Emily Lau defeated Vice-Chairman Sin Chung-kai by a narrow margin, becoming the first Chairwoman of the party. 300 party members voted in the election.[1]

Eligibility

The Central Committee was elected by the party congress. All public office holders, including the members of the Legislative Council and District Councils, are eligible to vote in the party congress. Every 30 members can also elect a delegate who holds one vote in the congress.[2]

Overview

After the devastating defeat in the 2012 Legislative Council election, Chairman Albert Ho resigned as leader, citing failure to present a united front for the pan-democratic camp, failure to retain seats from the previous elections, and infighting between pro-democracy parties. The chairmanship was temporarily taken over by vice-chairwoman Emily Lau until the leadership election in the end of the year.[3]

Emily Lau, prominent figure in the pro-democracy camp who had been legislator for New Territories East since 1991 only joined and became one of the two Vice-Chairmen of the Democratic Party in 2008 after she quit her group the Frontier as founding convenor. Emily Lau decided to run in last-minute candidate after repeatedly saying she would not run.[4]

Tho other vice-chairman Sin Chung-kai was the founding member of the party had returned into the LegCo in 2012 for Hong Kong Island after serving as the representative of the Information Technology functional constituency for ten years. Sin headed a 12-member team with the slogan "breakthrough, reform, democracy". The Team included Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong and Lo Kin-hei who were contested for the two Vice-Chairman posts.[4]

Southern District Councillor Au Nok-hin who was 25 years old, joined the party in 2009 and was elected a district councillor in 2011. Au ran for the Chairman post but he said he knew he had little chance of winning but wanted to demonstrate the party did not have a "big brother culture".[4]

Candidates

Chairman

Vice-Chairmen

Elections

Chairman election
Candidate Votes %
Emily Lau Wai-hing 149 50.3
Sin Chung-kai 133 44.9
Au Nok-hin 14 4.7
Vice-Chairmen election
Candidate Votes %
Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong 189 35.8
Lo Kin-hei 173 32.8
Wu Chi-wai 166 31.4
Central Committee election
Candidate Votes
Wu Chi-wai 260
Albert Ho Chun-yan 258
Sin Chung-kai 247
Yeung Sum 218
Cheung Man-kwong 214
Josephine Chan Shu-ying 210
Helena Wong Pik-wan 209
Tam Chun-kit 204
Cheung Yin-tung 196
Au Nok-hin 188
Andrew Wan Siu-kin 184
Ng Wing-fai 181
Ricky Or Yiu-lam 181
Yuen Hoi-man 175
Chai Man-hon 159
Lee Wing-sing 158
Lai King-wai 155
Lam Chung-hoi 155
Lee Wing-tat 155
Kwong Chun-yu 147
Andrew Chiu Ka-yin 145
Mark Li Kin-yin 144
Christopher Tsoi Yu-lung 137
Wong Sing-chi 135
Tsui Hon-kwong 134
Eric Lam Lap-chi 128
Joseph Chow Kam-siu 126
Ray-Joshua Au Chun-wah 124
Wong King-fong 113
Leung Ka-yu 112
Edmond Lau Chun-yip 106
Ying Wing-ho 92
Edmund Lee Kin-man 88
Chiu Chung-lam 83
Lam Wai-kei 80
Jimmy Law Sai-yan 78
Lam Ho-yeung 73
Chui Pak-tai 72
Lam Wing-yin 66
Lam Hon-kin 43
Joanna Leung Suk-ching 40
Li Hung-por 27
Andrew Lo Chung-park 19

Results

The incumbent acting Chairwomen Emily Lau defeated Vice-Chairman Sin Chung-kai by a narrow margin, becoming the first Chairwoman of the party.[1] Nevertheless, Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong and Lo Kin-hei were both elected as Vice-Chairmen,[4] by defeating legislator Wu Chi-wai for Kowloon East. Wu still won the most votes for a seat on the Central Committee.[1] Lo, 28 years old, became the youngest Vice-Chairman of the party's history.[5] 11 of the 30 new central committee members were under 40 years old with the average age of 44, 4 years younger than the last committee.[5]

The elected members of the 10th Central Committee are listed as following:

  • Chai Man-hon
  • Andrew Chiu Ka-yin
  • Albert Ho Chun-yan
  • Kwong Chun-yu
  • Lai King-wai
  • Lam Chung-hoi
  • Eric Lam Lap-chi
  • Mark Li Kin-yin
  • Li Wing-sing
  • Christopher Tsoi Yu-lung
  • Sin Chung-kai
  • Tsui Hon-kwong
  • Wong King-fong
  • Wong Sing-chi
  • Yeung Sum
  • Yuen Hoi-man

Aftermath

Political analyst Ma Ngok expressed disappointment at the result and doubted the new leader could rejuvenate the party. "Lau is a veteran politician who first ran in a direct election for the Legislative Council 20 years ago. She belongs to the first generation, like Sin. She has appeared to be quite distant from civil society in recent years. How can she rejuvenate the party? She won by a narrow margin. Neither she nor Sin is a popular leader," Ma said.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Emily Lau Wai-hing becomes Democratic Party's first chairwoman". SCMP. 17 December 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Kuan, Hsin-chi; Liu, Zhaojia; Wang, Jiaying, eds. (2002). Out of the Shadow of 1997?: The 2000 Legislative Council Election in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Chinese University Press. p. 156.
  3. ↑ "TVB pearl newscast 10/9/2012".
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Emily Lau turns Democratic Party chairman election into three-way race". SCMP. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "劉 慧 卿 當 選 民 主 黨 主 席". Singtao. 17 December 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2013.