The Democratic Party leadership election was held on 16 December 2012 for the 30-member 10th Central Committee of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong, including chairman and two vice-chairman posts. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
Candidates Chairman Emily Lau, Legislative Council member for New Territories East and acting Chairwoman of the Democratic Party Sin Chung-kai, Legislative Council member for Hong Kong Island and Vice-Chairman of the Democratic Party Au Nok-hin, Southern District Councillor
Vice-Chairmen Richard Tsoi, Democratic Party's Community Officer of the New Territories East Branch Lo Kin-hei, Southern District Councillor Wu Chi-wai, Legislative Council member for Kowloon East and member of the Central Committee
Elections Chairman electionCandidate Votes % Emily Lau Wai-hing 149 50.3 Sin Chung-kai 133 44.9 Au Nok-hin 14 4.7
Vice-Chairmen electionCandidate Votes % Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong 189 35.8 Lo Kin-hei 173 32.8 Wu Chi-wai 166 31.4
Central Committee electionCandidate 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 Li Wing-shing 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. Nevertheless, Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong and Lo Kin-hei were both elected as Vice-Chairmen, by defeating legislator Wu Chi-wai for Kowloon East. Wu still won the most votes for a seat on the Central Committee. Lo, 28 years old, became the youngest Vice-Chairman of the party's history. 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.
The elected members of the 10th Central Committee are listed as following: Chairlady: Emily Lau Vice-Chairmen: Richard Tsoi, Lo Kin-hei Secretary: Cheung Yin-tung Treasurer: Ng Wing-fai Executive Committee Members:
Au Nok-hin Cheung Man-kwong Josephine Chan Shu-ying Joseph Chow Kam-siu Lee Wing-tat Ricky Or Yiu-lam Andrew Wan Siu-kin Helena Wong Pik-wan Wu Chi-wai
Central Committee Members:
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-shing 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.
References