Despite several DAB members being embroiled in controversy lately, analysts believe rows will have little impact on party’s performance in coming Legco polls
TONY.CHEUNG@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Friday, 03 June, 2016, 3:59pm
It has been a bad fortnight for the largest party in the Legislative Council, as three of its well-known members were drawn into controversies, sparking public outcry and raising questions about an internal rift.
However, political analysts believe the storm is unlikely to do much harm to the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, as it is prepared to give up some of its 13 seats in the September polls to make way for younger allies in the legislature.
Lawrence Ma misquoted a Beijing-based legal expert as saying that the Chinese government could suppress Hong Kong independence activists with ‘guns and cannons’. Photo: Dickson Lee
The first of the recent controversies surrounding the DAB erupted on May 21, when party member Lawrence Ma Yan-kwok misquoted a Beijing-based legal expert as saying that the Chinese government could suppress Hong Kong independence activists with “guns and cannons”, sparking criticism that he had destroyed the relaxed atmosphere created by state leader Zhang Dejiang during his recent Hong Kong visit.
On Wednesday, DAB lawmaker “Tree Gun” Christopher Chung Shu-kun, 59, said he would decide whether to quit the party by the end of this month, after the party decided that lawyer Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan, 42, would lead its only slate on Hong Kong Island in September, effectively ruling Chung out of a second term.
Christopher Chung Shu-kun on DAB’s decision
A day later, DAB legislator and former chairman Tam Yiu-chung apologised after it was revealed that he had received special treatment when he went for an operation to remove a polyp near his ear on Tuesday.
Tam apologised again on the sidelines of the Legco meeting on Friday, after Chung poked fun at him on a Commercial Radio programme, saying: “Maybe I am a polyp in DAB and need to be removed!”
DAB lawmaker Tam Yiu-chung apologises again for receiving VIP treatment at hospital
But City University political science professor Ray Yep Kin-man and Chinese University political scientist Ivan Choy Chi-keung said Tam’s swift apologies did not mean the DAB was worried about the recent controversies impacting the party’s Legco elections campaign.
The Legco polls are months away, and these rows won’t do much harm.
POLITICAL SCIENTIST IVAN CHOY
“The Legco polls are months away, and these rows won’t do much harm,” Choy told the Post.
The party’s vice-chairman Gary Chan Hak-kan agreed with analysis, and suggested that the party was unlikely to change its mind and let Chung lead his own slate, as it wanted to give priority to younger members like Cheung.
Younger candidates with professional backgrounds would have an advantage, he said.
The number of Hong Kong Island seats will be reduced from seven to six this year. The Post learned that the pro-establishment camp hoped to limit candidates so that Federation of Trade Union’s labour representative Kwok Wai-keung, 38, could win his first bid for a directly elected seat.
In a sign of reconciliation, DAB chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king posted a picture of her and Chung on Thursday night, describing him as “an indispensible member of the party”.
She also wrote in her Metro Daily column on Friday that both Cheung and Chung could lose if they each led a slate.
“Let’s wipe our tears ... and do our best in September,” Lee said.
DAB chairwoman Starry Lee posted a picture of herself with Christopher Chung Shu-kun on Facebook on June 2. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Prof Yep said there was only a 50 per cent chance that Chung would quit to run, as the lawmaker had said it would cost him HK$1 million.
“If he steps down, Beijing’s liaison office will have other posts to compensate him with,” Yep added.
It is understood that the DAB, which has 13 seats currently, will seek to win one more seat in the District Council (Second) constituency. But since only three of its four retiring lawmakers have found successors, including Cheung, in a bid to retain their seats, Chung’s unlikely re-election means 12 seats are the most that the DAB can grab in September.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1963705/guns-cannons-and-polyps-can-hong-kongs-largest-pro-beijing
