The second coming of Democrats?
Yeung Sum's decision not to run for re-election as chairman of the Democratic Party next month when his term ends is a wise and generous choice since it opens the door to fresh blood to lead the party. The obvious choice is vice-chairman Lee Wing-tat.
The other vice-chairman, Albert Ho Chun-yan, is too closely identified with the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. Mr Lee is not and this gives him an advantage because the worst thing for the party now would be to elect a leader who will lead it into one confrontation after another with the central government.
Like other party leaders, Mr Lee has strong nationalistic credentials. I remember the time 20 years ago - during the Sino-British negotiations on Hong Kong's future - when Mr Lee unfurled a banner he had smuggled into a lunch venue featuring the then British foreign secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe. Mr Lee stood his ground and declared that 'Hong Kong Chinese' were not to be trifled with. It was an extremely courageous act and it deeply embarrassed the colonial authorities.
When Dr Yeung succeeded Martin Lee Chu-ming two years ago, he was only the party's second chairman, since Mr Lee - the founding chairman - had served four two-year terms, which is the maximum permitted under the party constitution. Dr Yeung's successor will be the third party chairman.
Of course, the charismatic Martin Lee had also been the founding chairman of the United Democrats of Hong Kong and he is still recognised internationally as the principal leader of the democratic movement in the city. Even stepping down as chairman, he overshadowed Dr Yeung, both in Hong Kong and overseas.
The party badly needs new leadership - and new members. At the Legislative Council election, none of the party's second echelon candidates were elected. And despite the plethora of women active in the democratic camp, the party has not a single recognisable female leader. It is, unfortunately, to a large extent a male chauvinist organisation.
It is important for the party to reach out to young people, especially women, and to define its position much more clearly. It is not enough to say that it stands for democracy. These days, no one openly opposes democracy.
The Democratic Party needs to enunciate policies on various issues and to move with the times. It needs to reconnect with the grass-roots community. It needs to broaden and deepen its links with the middle class and with professionals. And it needs to reach out to non-Chinese segments of the population.
The new Democrats leader will face a daunting task. In the past, the party was the unchallenged leader of the pro-democracy camp, with members accounting for more than half of all legislators in the camp.
Today, Democratic Party legislators comprise about a third of the pro-democracy camp. And the media spotlight is not on the party but on rising stars such as 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung and former radio host Albert Cheng King-hon.
The government likes to say that political parties in Hong Kong are not mature enough. But Dr Yeung's decision not to stand to assume responsibility for the party's poor showing and Tsang Yok-sing's choice last year to step down as chairman of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong after his party's setback in the district council elections show that party leaders are behaving in ways that those in democracies are expected to behave.
Indeed, they show that political parties here are, if not fully mature, steadily maturing.
Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based journalist and commentator
