Politics and government of Hong Kong |
Related topics Hong Kongportal |
Hong Kong has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party was allowed to gain power by controlling the Legislative Council. The Chief Executive is appointed by the Premier of the People's Republic of China based on an indirectly elected Election Committee and is de facto pro-Beijing but de jure is said to be nonpartisan as specified in the Chief Executive Election Ordinance. Once selected, the Chief Executive forms an unelected government which superficially has to rely on political parties in the legislature for support, but the legislature has been deliberately designed and redesigned to be a pro-Beijing rubber stamp body. [1] [2]
Hong Kong has no legislation for political parties; thus, it has no legal definition for what a political party is. Most political parties and political groups registered either as limited companies or societies.
In Hong Kong, there were two main political ideological blocs, which presents to pro-democracy camp (include localists) and pro-Beijing camp. Under the newly introduced electoral system, only government-approved candidates may run, effectively disqualifying any candidates who are not from the pro-Beijing camp or approved by Beijing. Most of the pro-democracy camp Legislative Councillors from the previous LegCo have been jailed by the Hong Kong government and are therefore disqualified from participating in elections without the need for government vetting.
The list includes also political groups, trade unions, professional associations and pressure groups in Hong Kong that have been active in elections but are not considered parties.
As of 19 June 2017, there were a total number of 16 political groupings represented in the Legislative and District Councils: [3] There are currently (As of August 2021) 8 political groups are still officially represented, and 4 further political groups represented by members of the first 8 groups (New Territories Association of Societies, New Territories Heung Yee Kuk, Kowloon West New Dynamic, Civil Force), all 12 are pro-Beijing parties. [4]
Other parties and groups without any representation that have participated in the elections include:
The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) was an organisation that focused on the issues of Hong Kong politics and livelihood, affiliated with almost all pan-democratic camps in Hong Kong. It was founded on 13 September 2002 and disbanded on 15 August 2021.
The Baptist Convention of Hong Kong is a Baptist Christian denomination in Hong Kong. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is in Mong Kok.
Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers (HKFEW) is a pro-Beijing teachers union in Hong Kong. Established in 1975, it is currently the largest teachers union in Hong Kong, after the disbandment of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union. It was established to "rally teachers to adopt the position of 'loving Hong Kong and the Motherland'", as part of China's united front work in Hong Kong's educational sector.
Localist groups or localist and self-determination groups refers to the various groups with localist ideologies in Hong Kong. It emerged from post-80s social movements in the late 2000s which centred on the preservation of the city's autonomy and local lifestyles and opposed the perceived growing encroachment of the Chinese government on the city's management of its own political, economic, and social affairs.
Dominic Lee Tsz-king is a Hong Kong politician. He is a member of the New People's Party and a Legislative Council Member representing the New Territories North East. He is a former member of the Sham Shui Po District Council for Yau Yat Tsuen from 2015 to 2019 and the former chairman of the Liberal Party Youth Committee.
ALLinHK was an electoral alliance formed by six groups which emerged from the 2014 Hong Kong protests and consists of Youngspiration, Kowloon East Community, Tin Shui Wai New Force, Cheung Sha Wan Community Establishment Power, Tsz Wan Shan Constructive Power and Tuen Mun Community. It was formed to improve prospects in the 2016 Hong Kong Legislative Council election with the slogan of "Hong Kong nation's self-determination".
The 2018 Hong Kong Legislative Council by-election was held on 11 March 2018 for four of the six vacancies in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) - the Hong Kong Island, Kowloon West and New Territories East geographical constituencies and the Architectural, Surveying, Planning and Landscape functional constituency - resulting from the disqualification of six pro-democrat and localist camp Legislative Council members over the 2016 oath-taking controversy. The by-election for the two other seats was not held due to pending legal appeals by the two disqualified legislators.
Professional Power is a political group based in Sai Kung District, Hong Kong. The group is formed and led by Christine Fong, a former member of the Liberal Party. The group markets itself as nonpartisan and currently has four members in the Sai Kung District Council.
Community Sha Tin was a local political group based in Sha Tin formed in 2017 by a group of pro-democracy Sha Tin District Councillors. It was disbanded in 2021 following the change of political atmosphere in Hong Kong.
Ting Tsz-yuen is a Hong Kong pro-democracy politician and a former member of the Sha Tin District Council for Kam Ying. A former Frontier and Democratic Party member, Ting is also a current convenor of the local political group Community Sha Tin and the deputy convenor of the Community Alliance. Mr Ting born in Hong Kong, and his ancestral hometown is Dongguan city( 東莞市), Guangdong province.
Tsz Wan Shan Constructive Power was a local political group based in Tsz Wan Shan of Wong Tai Sin District founded in January 2015 by a group of HKGolden netizens. Inspired by the Umbrella Revolution, the group contested in the 2015 District Council election but failed to win any seats. It won two seats in a historic pro-democracy landslide in 2019 District Council election.
Eddie Lam Yu-sing is the former deputy executive of Civil Force political party in Hong Kong, and is the current spokesperson and Vice-Chairperson of the New Territories Youth Federation. He previously worked in the China News Service. He was awarded the Secretary of Home Affairs Youth Recognition Scheme in October 2016. He is also a member of the New People's Party as a Pro-Beijing camp politician. In the 2019 Hong Kong local elections, he participated in the Sha Tin District Council Chui Ka election but suffered a severe loss to a Pro-democracy camp opponent.
Cheung Sha Wan Community Establishment Power was a local political group based in Cheung Sha Wan of Sham Shui Po District founded in 2015. Inspired by the Umbrella Revolution, the group contested in the 2015 District Council election but failed to win any seats. It won one seat in a historic pro-democracy landslide in 2019 District Council election, occupied by its convenor Leos Lee Man-ho.
Christine Choi Yuk-lin, is the current Secretary for Education in Hong Kong, formerly the principal of Fukien Secondary School and vice-chairlady of Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers.
The 2023 Hong Kong District Council elections were held on 10 December 2023 for all 18 District Councils of Hong Kong, electing 264 of the 470 seats in the councils. Under the new electoral system, 88 of the elected 264 seats were directly elected by 4.3 million voters, while 176 of them were indirectly elected among some 2,400 members of the government-appointed District Committees. More than one-third of the remaining seats were appointed by the Chief Executive.