Hong Kong legislative election, 2004

Infobox Election
election_name = Hong Kong legislative election, 2004
country = Hong Kong
type = legislative
ongoing = no
previous_election = Hong Kong legislative election, 2000
previous_year = 2000
next_election = Hong Kong legislative election, 2008
next_year = 2008
seats_for_election = 49 (of 60) seats to the Legislative Council
election_date = 12 September 2004

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swing2 = The 2004 Hong Kong legislative election for members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) was held on September 12, 2004. The elections returned 30 members from directly elected geographical constituencies and 30 members from functional constituencies, of which 11 were unopposed.

General outcome

A record number of 3.2 million people registered to vote in the election. The turnout rate was an unprecedented 55.6% with 1,784,406 voters casting ballots, beating the previous record set in 1998 by 200,000 votes.

While pro-democratic opposition candidates gained new seats in the legislature, their gains fell short of their expectations.

In the geographical constituencies, candidates from the pro-democratic camp secured 60 percent of the seats in the geographical sectors of the election, taking 18 seats (up from 17) in this category, and 62 percent of the popular vote. On the other hand, the pro-Beijing / pro-business candidates made greater gains, winning 12 directly elected seats (up from 7).

Ironically, in the functional constituencies which the pro-democratic camp sought to abolish, the camp made more gains (from 5 to 7 seats).

Overall, the democrats took 25 seats and the pro-government camp 35 seats. Bills initiated by the government can still be passed on pro-government support alone, but bills originated by members cannot be passed without democratic support, since these bills require absolute majorities in each sector (geographical and functional) of the legislature. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds vote and thereby also require support from the democratic camp.

Despite the increase in the number of seats returned by geographical constituencies and the record turnout, the Democratic Party (民主黨) lost the status of being the largest political party in the Legislative Council to the pro-government Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (who secured 12 seats) and pro-business Liberal Party (who secured 10 seats) parties, thereby becoming only the third-largest party. Some attributed the poor performance of the pro-democratic camp to tactical mis-calculation in vote allocation. This was not helped by some of the democratic parties' personal scandals.

Overall, the pro-Beijing and pro-business parties succeeded in retaining the majority in the legislature. However, pro-democracy candidates have maintained the threshold to block changes (if necessary) to the Basic Law of Hong Kong (since a two-thirds vote is required for amendment). The current Legislative Council also saw the entry of more radical members of the 'democratic' camp.

Irregularities

There were a few reports of irregularities. Some polling stations ran out of ballot boxes, causing long delays in voting. To fit more ballots into the ballot boxes, some election workers forcefully stuffed ballots into the box using objects such as barbecue forks and metal rulers. Some stations also used random cardboard boxes without official seals. Some ballot boxes were opened before the close of polling.

The polling station operating manual had mistakes in it, so some candidate representatives were kicked out after the closing of the poll and were prevented from witnessing the counting, as required by law.

Some candidates have tried to challenge the election results, but have remained unsuccessful thus far.

A report on the election process was published shortly after the election. PDF| [http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr04-05/english/panels/ca/papers/ca1220-eprt-e-scan.pdf] |0.99 MiB Another report was commissioned by the government to suggest future improvements. [http://www.info.gov.hk/info/report05/]

Dynamics

The election was largely seen as a contest between the pro-democracy coalition and the pro-business and pro-Beijing coalitions. There were 162 candidates for 60 seats in the LegCo. Before the election, the pro-democratic camp was widely expected to gain the most votes and increase its representation in the LegCo (from 22 seats). Some members of the pro-democratic camp aimed at securing an absolute majority of the seats in the legislature so that they would have the power to veto all government proposals.

The democratic camp called for direct elections for the Chief Executive of Hong Kong in 2007 and for LegCo in 2008, as well as rapid political reform. In contrast, the pro-Beijing and pro-business candidates placed more emphasis on economic growth and social stability. Most of the political parties are now setting 2012 as the ideal time for electoral reform.

While the democratic camp hoped to play up the issue of universal suffrage as a prominent issue in the election, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ruled out universal suffrage for the Chief Executive's election in 2007 and for LegCo elections in 2008 in April 2004 before the election. Despite this, the pro-democratic camp insisted on promoting their agenda, which seemed to backfire when the campaign lost its original momentum. This was not helped by various sex and financial scandals of a few pro-democracy candidates. There were some allegations by the pro-democracy camp of Mainland Chinese influence behind this.

Some of the more interesting developments include:

* Some reports in phone-in radio programmes that some officials in the Mainland requested businessmen to take photographs of their completed ballots with their mobile phones to prove that they have voted for pro-Beijing candidates. In response, the government removed curtains from polling booths to deter such activities.
* The entry into the election race of popular radio show host Albert Cheng, who had accused Beijing of pressuring him to leave his radio program.
* The arrest and sentence (by reeducation through labor) of the Democratic Party candidate Alex Ho in Guangdong province of China for (allegedly) being caught and pictured in a hotel bedroom having relations with a prostitute. Although there were some initial predictions that Ho's arrest would help the Democratic Party by highlighting deficiencies in the PRC's judicial system, it is generally agreed that his arrest greatly hurt the party among women voter support in Hong Kong.
* The involvement of Democratic Party James To and The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions Chan Yuen-han in scandals relating to the use of public funds for the benefit of their respective political groups.
* Human Rights Watch issued a report a few days before the election, accusing the PRC government of creating a "climate of fear" to influence the election. In response, the Hong Kong government claimed that the report was distorted.
* The assault of a candidate of the Democratic Party in the New Territories East district, Mr. Wong Shing-chi. The suspect was arrested and reportedly found to be mentally ill.
* The election of radical activist "Long Hair", who ran as an independent but who is expected to side with pro-democracy representatives despite his revolutionary leanings.

Candidates and results

General results

Democratic camp 25 seats, Pro-Beijing camp 35 seatsThree Largest Parties:
*DAB: 12 seats
*Liberal Party: 10 seats
*Democratic Party: 9 seats

Geographical constituencies (30 seats)

Voting System: Closed party-list proportional representation with the largest remainder method and Hare Quota.

Election results

ummary of outcome

Geographical constituencies

Pro Democracy (18 seats):
* Democratic Party 民主黨): 7 seats
* Article 45 Concern Group (四十五條關注組): 3 seats
* Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (民主民生協進會, 民協) : 1 seat
* Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (香港職工會聯盟): 1 seat
* Neighbourhood and Workers Service Centre (街坊工友服務處): 1 seat
* The Frontier (前綫): 1 seat
* Pro democracy individuals: 4 seatsPro Government (12 seats):
* Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (民主建港聯盟, 民建聯): 8 seats
* The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (香港工會聯合會, 工聯會) : 1 seats
* Liberal Party (自由黨): 2 seats
* Pro government individual: 1 seat

Functional constituencies

Pro-democracy (7 seats)
*Democratic Party: 2 seats
*Other: 5 seats

Pro-government (23 seats)
*Liberal Party: 8 seats
*DAB: 4 seats
*Other: 11 seats

Democratic camp 25 seats, Pro-Beijing camp 35 seatsThree Largest Parties:
*DAB: 12 seats
*Liberal Party: 10 seats
*Democratic Party: 9 seats

Functional constituencies (30 seats)

The pro-government camp took 23 seats, leaving seven for the democrats. See [http://www.elections.gov.hk/elections/legco2004/english/results/rs_fc_overall.html this site] for a list of the winners and the number of votes received in each sector.

Navbox
title = Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (2004 - 2008)
name = HKLegco


state = uncollapsed
style =
navbar= plain
group1= President
list1 = Rita Fan "(From geographical constituency on Hong Kong Island)"
group2= Geographical constituencies
list2 = Hong Kong Island: Martin Lee ·w Yeung Sum ·w Choy So Yuk ·w Audrey Eu ·w Anson Chan
Kowloon East: Fred Li ·w Chan Yuen Han ·w Chan Kam Lam ·w Albert Cheng ·w Alan Leong
Kowloon West: Lau Chin Shek ·w Jasper Tsang ·w James To ·w Frederick Fung
New Territories East: James Tien ·w Lau Kong Wah ·w Emily Lau ·w Andrew Cheng ·w Ronny Tong ·w Leung Kwok Hung ·w Li Kwok Ying
New Territories West: Albert Ho ·w Lee Cheuk Yan ·w Selina Chow ·w Leung Yiu Chung ·w Tam Yiu Chung ·w Albert Chan ·w Lee Wing Tat ·w Cheung Hok Ming
group3= Functional constituencies
list3 = Raymond Ho ·w Sir David Li ·w Lui Ming Wah ·w Margaret Ng ·w Cheung Man Kwong ·w Bernard Chan ·w Sophie Leung ·w Sin Chung Kai ·w Philip Wong ·w Wong Yung Kan ·w Howard Young ·w Lau Wong Fat ·w Miriam Lau ·w Timothy Fok ·w Abraham Razack ·w Li Fung Ying ·w Tommy Cheung ·w Vincent Fang ·w Wong Kwok Hing ·w Lee Kok Long ·w Daniel Lam ·w Jeffrey Lam ·w Andrew Leung ·w Kwok Ka Ki ·w Fernando Cheung ·w Wong Ting Kwong ·w Chim Pui Chung ·w Patrick Lau ·w Kwong Chi Kin ·w Mandy Tam

External links

* [http://www.elections.gov.hk/elections/legco2004/eindex.html LegCo Elections 2004]