Election losers are given council seats

Fears for democracy as three candidates rejected at ballot box last month are appointed to district councils, while pan-democrats are frozen out

At least three contenders for district council seats who were rejected by voters are among 68 appointed by the government, sparking renewed concern over the development of local democracy in Hong Kong.

The appointments, which ensure that the government-friendly camp has secured the chairman’s seat on all 18 district councils, will weaken the pan-democratic camp and affect its ability to build support at the grass-roots level, say observers.

Of the 68 appointees announced on Thursday, almost all are from the Beijing-friendly camp and 10 are from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, which emerged as the biggest winner of last month’s polls, with 136 of the 405 seats open to election. None of the appointees is from the pan-democrat camp.

At least three appointees are candidates rejected at the ballot box. Lau Wong-fat, who lost his seat as Tuen Mun Rural Committee chairman in an election earlier this year and was, as a result, lost his ex officio seat on Tuen Mun district council, has been given a seat on the council by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen under the appointment system. Two members of the Beijing-friendly Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, Peter Wong Kit-hin and Marina Tsang Tze-kwan – both beaten by the Democratic Party in the 2007 district council elections – were appointed to the Wong Tai Sin and Kwai Tsing district councils respectively this year.

The Democratic Party’s Chai Man-hon, who defeated Tsang four years ago, said he was “in awe” at finding his former election rival had been appointed.

“This is against the spirit of democracy,” he said. “There is no need for an election any more, as it is not respecting the people’s voice at all. They can just wait for the government’s appointment after losing the race.”

The government’s appointments also overturned pan-democrat influence on the Kwai Tsing district council – the only district where the pan-democrats dominate and where they won 16 of 29 seats. By adding five appointees to the council, the number of government-friendly councillors jumps from 13 to 18.

A member of the council, the Democratic Party’s Eric Lam Lap-chi, said: “The chairmen are responsible for the setting of agendas, arrangement of government officials to attend meetings and so on. [This] means he can hold up sensitive issues on the agenda, or pass funding only for activities organised by pro-government people who are already well-resourced.

“We will suffer a lot of hardship in fighting for resources.”

The system of political appointments has long been criticised as undemocratic. The government agreed to scrap a third of the 102 appointed district council seats in September.

A government spokesman said: “All the 68 members are appointed in their personal capacity. They all have a good knowledge of district affairs and are dedicated to serving the community.”

emily.tsang@scmp.com