Democratic Party (HK) leadership election, 1998
 |
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
The Democratic Party leadership election was held on 13 December 1998 for the 30-member 3rd Central Committee of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong, including chairman and two vice-chairman posts. Founding Chairman Martin Lee Chu-ming was re-elected uncontestedly for the third consecutive term. The election was marked by a "coup d'etat" by the Young Turks faction whose candidate Lau Chin-shek defeated the incumbent Vice-Chairman Anthony Cheung Bing-leung. The intra-party factional struggles intensified as a result.
The Central Committee was elected by the party congress. All public office holders, including the members of the Legislative Council, Urban Council, Regional 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.
By late 1998 there was enough dissatisfaction against the party's central authorities, especially against the monopoly of power position by the coalition of party leaders and former Meeting Point members, giving the "dissents" sufficient support in the party congress to challenge the party leadership.
The Young Turks, mainly the district-level members with the more radical-minded and grassroots interests had very diverse goals. They disliked the Meeting Point faction's more compromising stand towards the Communist government, and their pro-middle-class and pro-laissez-faire positions. Some of them wanted to push the party towards a more pro-grassroots position with street actions.
A gran coalition consisting mostly of the member-representatives and District Councillors. They formed their own list of about ten candidates to run for the Central Committee and nominated trade unionist Lau Chin-shek to run for Vice-Chairman against the former Meeting Point Chairman and the incumbent Vice-Chairman Anthony Cheung. Some hoped to make Lau as their factional leader, to lead the party to a more pro-grassroots position.
...
Wikipedia