- Civic Party
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For other uses, see Civic Party (disambiguation).
Civic Party
公民黨
Chairman Kenneth Chan Leader Alan Leong Founded 19 March 2006 Preceded by Article 45 Concern Group Headquarters Unit 202, 2/F, Block B, Sea View Estate
4-6 Watson Road, North Point, Hong KongIdeology Social liberalism[1] Political position Centre-left National affiliation Pro-democracy camp Official colours Purple Legislative Council 5 / 60District Councils 12 / 534Website http://www.civicparty.hk/ Politics of Hong Kong
Political parties
ElectionsCivic Party (Chinese: 公民黨; Jyutping: Gung1 Man4 Dong2) is a liberal democratic political party in Hong Kong.
The Civic Party is currently the third largest political party in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, with five members securing seats in the 2008 Hong Kong Legislative Council elections. The leader is Alan Leong and the chairman is Kenneth Chan.[2]
Contents
History
Founding
The Civic Party was officially founded on 19 March 2006 by members of the Article 45 Concern Group, student leaders and pro-democracy advocates, primarily from the legal profession and the academic field. Kuan Hsin-chi became the first chairman and Audrey Eu Yuet-mee the first leader of the party. At the time of formation, the party had six members (Dr Fernando Cheung Chiu Hung, Audrey Eu, Alan Leong Kah Kit, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, Mandy Tam Heung-man and Ronny Tong Ka Wah) in the Legislative Council, making it the fourth largest party.
Chief Executive Election 2007
In February 2007, Civic Party legislator Alan Leong secured 132 nominations and became the first pro-democracy Chief Executive candidate in the history of Hong Kong. He eventually lost by 123 to 649 votes to favourite Sir Donald Tsang in the election.
Legislative Council Election 2008
The Civic Party won five seats in the 2008 Legislative Council election. In the geographical constituencies, Tanya Chan and Audrey Eu secured seats on Hong Kong Island, Alan Leong in Kowloon East, and Ronny Tong in New Territories East; Margaret Ng was re-elected as the Legal functional constituency representative.
During the election campaign, poll numbers consistently showed a high level of support for the party in several geographical constituencies. However, with the exception of the Hong Kong Island ticket, the party's results failed to match pre-election predictions. Ronny Tong only took the sixth out of seven seats in his constituency, Alan Leong the final seat, while Claudia Mo Man-ching and Fernando Cheung lost in their respective constituencies. The underperformance was blamed on the low turnout and the party's lack of district work.[citation needed]
2011 Controversies
The controversies surrounding the judicial review court case on the environmental impact assessment report for the Hong Kong Section of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and another Vallejos v. Commissioner of Registration court case in 2011 had raised criticisms against Civic Party. [3]Alan Leong admitted in October 2011 that "public fury was whipped up against Civic Party".[4]
On 9 October, 2011, about 10,000 people joined in a march protesting against the Civic Party for allegedly supporting the Filipino maids to gain permanent residency status in Hong Kong.[5]
Structure
The party is managed by the nineteen-member Executive Committee, headed by the Chairman and Leader. It has five Policy Branches, five District Branches, and a youth branch known as the Young Civics.
The admittance of any new member must be backed by two existing members. In addition, a prospective member must complete local branch work for one year before being inducted as an ordinary member.
Party beliefs
The party is considered part of the pan-democratic camp in the Legislative Council. It aims to set up a society built upon the rule of law, protection of individual rights, and universal suffrage.
During the 2008 Legislative Council election campaign, candidates from the party also called for the introduction of a statutory minimum wage and a competition law.
Leading figures
Incumbent Leading figures
- Chairman: Kenneth Chan
- Leader: Alan Leong (Chairman of Kowloon East Branch, and 2008 Legislative Councillor for Kowloon East)
- External Vice-Chairman: Albert Lai (Chairman of Environment and Sustainable Development Branch)
- Internal Vice-Chairman: Margaret Ng (Chairman of Constitution & Governance Branch, and 2008 Legislative Councillor for the Legal functional constituency)
- Secretary-General: Bill Lay
- Treasurer: Tommy Wong
Ex-leading figures
- Audrey Eu: founding Party Leader, Chairman of Hong Kong Island Branch, and 2008 Legislative Councillor for Hong Kong Island
- Dr Kuan Hsin-chi: founding Chairman
- Joseph Cheng Yu-shek: Secretary General
- Ronny Tong: Chairman of New Territories East Branch, and 2008 Legislative Councillor for New Territories East
Well-known Former members
- Dr Fernando Cheung Chiu Hung: Vice-chairman, Chairman of New Territories West Branch, and former Legislative Councillor for the Social Welfare functional constituency, left Civic Party in 2010.
- Mandy Tam: Treasurer, and former Legislative Councillor for the Accountancy functional constituency
References
- ^ http://www.civicparty.hk/cp/pages/page-c/commitment-c.php
- ^ "Civic Party elects new leader, chairman". RTHK. 8 Jan 2011. http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/news/englishnews/news.htm?main&20110108&56&725493. Retrieved 8 Jan 2011.
- ^ "Thousands protest against Civic Party". rthk.hk. 2011-10-10. http://m.rthk.hk/news/20111010/789758.htm. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ "Letter To Hong Kong: Legislator Alan Leong". rthk.hk. 2011-10-02. http://programme.rthk.hk/channel/radio/programme.php?name=radio3/lettertohongkong&d=2011-10-02&m=episode. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ "Marchers slap at 'black hand'". thestandard.com.hk. 2011-10-10. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=115903&sid=34014937&con_type=1&d_str=20111010. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
External links
- (Chinese) (English) Civic Party Official Site
- (English) Civic Party embarks on path to power - The Hong Kong Standard newspaper article
- (Chinese) New political party to be established within this month - a45 newspaper
Political parties in Hong KongPan-democracy Democratic Party (8) · Civic Party (5) · People Power (2) · League of Social Democrats (1) · Confederation of Trade Unions (1) · Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (1) · Neighbourhood and Workers Service Centre (1) · Civic Act-up (1) · Social Workers' General Union (1)Pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (10) · Federation of Trade Unions (4) · Liberal Party (3) · Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions (1) · New People's Party (1) · Professional Forum (4) · Economic Synergy (4)Politics of Hong Kong · Politics portal · List of political parties by country / in Hong Kong Categories:- Political parties established in 2006
- Political parties in Hong Kong
- Civic Party politicians
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