As Beijing is making Hong Kong tough, the Democrats, Hong Kong’s largest democratic organization, are about to break up forever.
As Beijing is making Hong Kong tough, the Democrats, Hong Kong’s largest democratic organization, are about to break up forever.
The party held an extraordinary general meeting on April 13th, allowing the Central Committee to further follow up on allegations for dissolution.
Party chair Lo Kin-Hei told the media after the meeting that more than 110 members had voted, of which more than 90% supported allegations that “allow the Democratic Central Committee to further follow up on the party’s disbandment process.”
Lo added that some members had asked about the political wisdom of disbanding, and he responded during the meeting and explained. But it’s not convenient to reveal too many details at a meeting, he said.
He also said that most members expressed their understanding and that the parties have set up a special dissolution panel where they are tasked with searching for legal counsel and accountants to assist in the liquidation process.
He said how to manage the remaining assets of the parties is to donate to like-minded groups and charities. There are no final decisions yet regarding the beneficiaries or the time frame to do this, he said.
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A Reuters report on April 11 revealed five Democratic officials said they urged the party to dissolve the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials or Go-Betweens. Otherwise, they will face disastrous consequences, including arrests.
Former party official Li Wah-Ming said a CCP official said the dissolution should be completed before the parliamentary elections held in December.
Lo Kin-Hei declined to comment on this at a press conference.
The Democrats previously formed a group of three people, consisting of Chairman Lo Kin-Hei, Vice-Chairman Mok Kin-Shing and Secretary-General Leung Wing-Kuen, specialized in dealing with legal, administrative and financial issues necessary for the dissolution process.
Lo says it’s difficult to provide a clear breakup schedule now, explaining the process as “it’s difficult to go fast, but never too late.” He estimated it could take several months to complete. Mok also added that the liquidation process includes a statutory official gazette process.
When asked to summarise Democrats’ work over the past 30 years, Lo said this phase wasn’t the right time to fall into personal feelings.
The Democrat was founded in 1994 and has been the largest party on the Legislative Council for many years and has been active on the District Council.
Several former party members have been jailed under NSL accusations after the implementation of the CCP’s National Security Law (NSL) held in Hong Kong in 2020.
The CCP’s standing committee set high threshold eligibility criteria in 2021, effectively excludes Democrats and other Democrats from participating in future elections through the so-called “improved” Hong Kong election system.
Another democratic party made up primarily of experts, the Citizens Party officially disbanded in 2024.
