A niche to be filled

Hong Kong needs a conservative party, and this might be the time to create one. The greatest political drama in recent weeks has concerned the Liberal Party. It has been shattered, with two of its most experienced members - James Tien Pei-chun and Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee - losing their seats in the legislature, and the departure of legislators Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung, Sophie Leung Lau Yau-fun and Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen. The break-up seems to have come after businessman and party member David Lie Tai-chong tried to pass on what was touted as a message from Beijing that the party should no longer engage in direct elections but should concentrate its efforts on functional seats.

What is interesting to ponder is why Beijing would not want the Liberal Party to contest directly elected seats, assuming the message is accurate. A guess would be that there are not enough geographical seats to be shared out. If the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong or pro-government independents are to win more seats, getting the Liberals to stick with functional seats was one way to achieve this. If that is the case, then who better than a party member to deliver the message?

Whatever one may say about Mr Tien and Mrs Chow, they have been in politics long enough to know that there is no substitute for winning at the ballot box. The more experienced members, like Miriam Lau Kin-yee, also understand this. Mrs Lau, who has long represented the transport functional constituency, thought about running for direct election this year. The others, however, seem content to stay with functional elections. After all, they have been unable to develop public profiles and their performance in the Legislative Council has been lacklustre.

Assuming Mr Lie was indeed a special messenger, then the split may reveal those who want to maintain a modicum of independence and those who don't want to stay because they prefer to be on the right side. We should recall Mr Tien's comments, after he lost in the election, that he wanted to retire completely but might not be able to if there was pressure on the party. He may have meant pressure from Beijing. The decimated Liberal Party might as well forget future funding from tycoons and encouragement from Beijing.

Perhaps this is the time to clean up Hong Kong's political divides. With the Democratic Party and The Frontier working on a merger, there will be a rice-and-soy-sauce party with socialist leanings. The League of Social Democrats will be on the left wing of the pro-democracy camp. The Civic Party is really a right-of-centre pro-democracy party. What remains of the Liberal Party may want to explore a merger with the Civic Party.

These new formations would make a lot more sense. The Civic Party-Liberal Party members could win direct and functional elections. They should fight hard for all the functional constituency seats that are elected by individual voters. If the reconfigured Civic Party-Liberal Party could become a pro-democracy conservative party, it may attract people like Markus Shaw - who ran unsuccessfully against Mr Lam, for the General Chamber of Commerce seat, but put up a good fight.