appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Mike Rowse

Enactment of the national security law, and implementation of the extensive political reform package, have raised some fundamental questions about future representation in the Legislative Council and how it will function.
Much of the attention recently has been focused on the outcome of the Democratic Party’s special meeting late last month. In effect, the party made no decision on whether to field candidates in the December polls.
Rather, it would be left to individual members to decide whether they wished to participate, then the party would meet to consider whether they could run.
It is easy to mock this lack of decisiveness. Characters as diverse as veteran Democratic Party member Fred Li Wah-ming and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor have raised the question of why a political party should exist if it was not contesting elections.
In a recent discussion of the subject on RTHK’s Backchat, former legislator Christine Loh Kung-wai drew four conclusions: the party was keeping its options open; we were returning to the pre-1997 situation where individuals could do well; it was not necessary to be a political party to have influence (NGOs could, too); and, the voters’ perspective would be critical.


Whether an individual wishes to run, or a party wishes to field candidates, they will have to decide where they stand on the political spectrum and how to describe themselves. In the past we used “pro-government” and “opposition”. These will not be good enough in the new era.
For one thing, the pro-government cadre has been lambasted as “loyal trash” by Tian Feilong, a Beijing academic. That means those politicians were not doing their job thoroughly enough to keep the government on track.
Doing the job properly means making sure the government is defining problems correctly, then addressing them. Chanting patriotic slogans is no substitute for competent performance. Have the pro-government parties been fielding candidates of the right calibre?
A classic example was their failure in early 2019 to correct the government’s mistaken strategy for extradition, which fed directly into the social unrest. There were actually two separate problems: one was the need to send a murder suspect back to Taiwan for trial. This was not at all controversial and could (and should) have been dealt with quickly under existing laws.
Hong Kong’s poll reforms strike against crony capitalism
The second problem was the need to review Hong Kong’s extradition/rendition arrangements 20 years after establishment of the special administrative region. This was potentially controversial, and required a steady, measured approach, with ample time for public consultation, to inspire confidence.
Even the conservative Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce was urging caution. The government instead decided to conflate the two issues and rush comprehensive amendments through, with only 20 days allowed for consultation.


“Pro-government” members of Legco should have said: “Send this guy back right away and let’s take our time with the major overhaul.” Instead, they put aside any misgivings they may have had and indicated they would vote the bill through in June.
Hence, the enormous protest march on June 9, and then the student blockade of the Legco building on June 12 to prevent passage of the bill.
Election Committee: with great power comes great responsibility
There is an effort now to ascribe all blame for the subsequent protests to outsiders. It is true that anti-China forces did step in to ramp up pressure and interfere in Hong Kong’s affairs.
But they were not creating a problem, they were taking advantage of our own error. How much better it might have been if the patriots had done their job properly in the first place.
The traditional opposition parties did not acquit themselves any better. Opposition per se strays perilously close to trying to bring the government down, and the concept of “loyal opposition” is struggling for a foothold. Opposition for its own sake is not a useful pursuit.
How beneficial was it to Hong Kong to filibuster legislation on the national anthem for months? What was the point of obstructing the house committee chairman election?


Most serious was the reluctance of many leaders to condemn outright the violence and vandalism of 2019, apparently for fear of losing support from their younger followers. That is not leadership.
So the pan-democrats have some serious soul-searching of their own to do, too. Bearing in mind that anyone sticking their head above the parapet these days comes under close scrutiny, they may decide it is not worth the aggravation.
There is still room for two streams of Legco members: those inclined to believe, in defiance of all history, that the government will get most things right – call them the optimists – and those who, from experience, believe most government proposals will need improvement – call them the pessimists, or realists.
Whatever their instincts, all members need to be engaged on their duties and offer constructive policy suggestions.
My main concern is that there will be too many optimists in the new Legco, rewarded with seats for past loyalty, and not enough realists. Given the understandable hesitancy of the Democrats, the central government may need to headhunt some realists to get the balance right.
Mike Rowse is the CEO of Treloar Enterprises


Hong Kong to bar firms with integrity offences from building renovation lists

Hong Kong’s ‘AI city brain’ to cost initial HK$200m, but ‘won’t catch thieves’

Hong Kong to table cooling-off period bill for beauty, fitness deals by mid-2027

Hong Kong is lagging in the AI race – can it raise its game, and how?

Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco)

Legco’s past and future: Hong Kong must examine what both camps got wrong

Pro-democracy and pro-government lawmakers scuffle over access to the Legislative Council chamber on May 11, 2019, amid a broader clash over controversial amendments to Hong Kong’s extradition laws. Photo: AP

Should capitalist Hong Kong worry about Beijing’s common prosperity drive? Deng Xiaoping had the answer ready decades ago

The Chinese and Hong Kong flags. Photo: EPA-EFE

The Chinese national flag (centre R) and the Hong Kong flag are seen hoisted on poles outside the Court of Final Appeal in front of a view of (L-R) the Bank of China (Hong Kong), or BOCHK, building, The Cheung Kong building and the local HSBC headquarters building in Hong Kong on July 16, 2020. - Hong Kong reimposed tough social distancing measures on July 15 -- shuttering many businesses and making facemasks on public transport mandatory -- after a spike in coronavirus cases threatens to undo months of success against the disease. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP)

Why Hong Kong’s Democratic Party is not worried about its future despite unseating of sole opposition lawmaker

Cheng Chung-tai meets the media outside the Legislative Council chamber at Tamar after he was unseated on Thursday. Photo: Nora Tam

Lo Kin-hei, Chairman of the Democratic Party, photographed at his office in Lei Tung. 09DEC20 SCMP/ Xiaomei Chen

Opinion


There is an effort now to blame the 2019 unrest on outsiders. How much better it might have been if the patriots had done their job and set the government right on the extradition bill
As for the pan-democrats, their failure to condemn outright the violence revealed a lack of leadership



There is an effort now to blame the 2019 unrest on outsiders. How much better it might have been if the patriots had set the government right on the extradition bill. As for the pan-democrats, their failure to condemn the violence revealed a lack of leadership.


Hong Kong politics

Hong Kong electoral changes

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor

Hong Kong national security law (NSL)

Hong Kong protests

Hong Kong Legislative Council election 2021: Opinion

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)
