Hong Kong: the very important Civic Party, pro-democracy, dissolves itself for lack of members

2023-05-28T06:30:42.999Z

Highlights: Hong Kong's Civic Party voted on Saturday, May 27, to dissolve itself. The party has not been able to find enough members to fill the positions needed to build a leadership. Several of its former elected officials are in prison, some for more than two years and still without conviction, most for their participation in a simple primary. Others are in exile, such as Dennis Kwok, 45, one of the founding members of the civic party, who has taken refuge in the United States. Under the new electoral code imposed by Beijing in 2021, no pro-democracy candidate can run anymore.

In Hong Kong, one of the main opposition parties, the Civic Party, voted on Saturday, May 27, to dissolve itself. The party could not find enough members to fill the necessary positions...

Hong Kong: the very important Civic Party, pro-democracy, dissolves itself for lack of members

In Hong Kong, one of the main opposition parties, the Civic Party, voted on Saturday, May 27, to dissolve itself. The party has not been able to find enough members to fill the positions needed to build a leadership, especially after the crackdown on its members since Beijing imposed the national security law.

One of the leaders of the Civic Party, Alain Leon Kah-kit, at a press conference announcing the self-dissolution of his party, in Hong Kong on May 27, 2023 © Tyrone Siu / Reuters

Text by: RFI Follow

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With our correspondent in Hong Kong, Florence de Changy

Created in 2006, nearly a decade after Hong Kong's handover to China in 1997 and with an agenda of democratic reform, the Civic Party was nicknamed "the lawyers' party", along with lawyers, academics and other professions who can be considered intellectual.

In 2007, the Civic Party presented a candidate for the post of Chief Executive: a symbolic gesture, because the electoral system gave it no chance, but which underlined the party's democratic ambition for Hong Kong.

Today, several of its former elected officials are in prison, some for more than two years and still without conviction, most for their participation in a simple primary. Others are in exile, such as Dennis Kwok, 45, one of the founding members of the civic party, contacted in the United States where he has taken refuge.

It's sad, but I think it's time for the Civic Party to close, since the political space necessary for the existence of a moderate opposition party such as the Civic Party no longer exists. Dennis Kwok explained by phone.

The "Democratic Party", the Labour Party and the League of Social Democrats continue to exist in Hong Kong, but on paper essentially: under the new electoral code imposed by Beijing in 2021, no pro-democracy candidate can run anymore.

Hong Kong: the very important Civic Party, pro-democracy, dissolves itself for lack of members

Hong Kong: the very important Civic Party, pro-democracy, dissolves itself for lack of members

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