Citizens Party 民權黨 | |
|---|---|
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| Founder | Christine Loh |
| Founded | 4 May 1997 (1997-05-04) |
| Dissolved | 9 May 2008 (2008-05-09) |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| Regional affiliation | Pro-democracy camp |
| Colours | Black andgreen |
Citizens Party (Chinese:民權黨) was a smallpro-democracypolitical party existed in Hong Kong from 1997 to 2008. It was founded byLegislative Council memberChristine Loh in May 1997.
Being part of thepro-democracy camp, the Citizens Party demanded democratisation with the ultimate aims ofuniversal suffrage which was stated in theHong Kong Basic Law. However, it claimed to be more creative and less confrontational than theDemocratic Party in seeking democratic reform and emphasised the importance of dialogue with the Beijing officials.[1][2] In general, the party believed in an accountable government withrepresentative democracy underrule of law, that would protect citizens'personal freedoms andequal opportunity, as well as promotetolerance and personal responsibility. In economic policies, the Citizens Party believed thatfree-market principles could best respond to change and provide choice. However, it also demanded proper regulation where there is an overriding public interest, such as to ensure fair competition.[3]
The Citizens Party differentiated itself from other parties by stressing on anti-discrimination and minority issues and was particularly concerned with environmental protection. The Chairwoman Christine Loh was famous for her campaign on legislation and implementation of theProtection of the Harbour Ordinance, to ban any reclamation in theVictoria Harbour. It also opposed government's proposal of building a prison onHei Ling Chau Island. It also stressed thewomen's rights, anti-discrimination and minority issues, such as demand for legislation against racial and sexual orientation discriminations.[4][5]
It was officially founded on 4 May 1997 by 14 pro-democracy individuals on the eve of thehandover of Hong Kong. Its first chair,Christine Loh Kung-wai, was alegislative council memberelected in 1995. Loh proposed the legislation of the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance to prevent excessive harbour reclamation, which was passed in June 1997. TheProvisional Legislative Council (PLC) controlled by the pro-Beijing politicians was asked by the SAR government to freeze the Ordinance. Loh and theSociety for Protection of the Harbour eventually successfully lobbied the provisional legislature not to freeze the law.[6][7]
Loh returned to the legislative council in the1998 legislative council election in theHong Kong Island, despite another party's candidate Mozart Lui Yat-ming lost in theNew Territories East. After Loh decided not to run for the2000 LegCo election and resigned as chair before the election, the Citizens Party became less active in the political arena without representation in the legislative council. However, the party continued to express views in various issues.
In the1999 District Council elections, the party won a seat in theHeng Fa Chuen constituency. In the2003 District Council elections, its then chairman,Alex Chan Kai-chung, unsuccessfully ran for a seat in theLamma andPo Toi constituency.
The party officially wound itself up in December 2008, under Section 21 of theCompanies Ordinance.[8]
| Election | Number of popular votes | % of popular votes | GC seats | FC seats | EC seats | Total seats | +/− |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 41,633 | 2.81 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 / 60 | — |
| Election | Number of popular votes | % of popular votes | Total elected seats | +/− |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2,072 | 0.26 | 1 / 390 | 0 |
| 2003 | 361 | 0.03 | 0 / 400 | 1 |
