City University is latest to leave Hong Kong Federation of Students
Student ballot makes union the fourth to leave group that was key Occupy organiser
City University's student union has become the fourth union to vote to leave the Federation of Students, which played a leading role in last year's Occupy protests but which is now seeing its prominence wane.
The decision by CityU students, sealed in a ballot on Wednesday night, is the latest departure to hit the federation, the city's oldest and most politically influential student group, which has historically represented students at eight universities.
The poll outcome was a great setback, as the federation now could not rightly assert it "stood for the majority of students", its deputy secretary general, Alan Wong Ka-fai, said.
"It is a reality that we must accept," he told RTHK yesterday.
The series of exits started with the University of Hong Kong's student union, which voted to leave the federation in February. Since then, Polytechnic and Baptist universities followed suit within a day of each other late last month.
Their disaffiliations came in the aftermath of the 79-day Occupy protests, during which university students complained the federation acted too hastily and failed to consult them.