Hong Kong’s pan-democrats can win back the public, but only if they get down to basics
Mike Rowse says if it wants to be taken seriously, the pan-democratic camp needs to focus on solutions, especially for those most in need, not the democracy cause and obstructionism
We should start by analysing the outcome of the by-elections. I attach no weight to the loss of the architectural, surveying, planning and landscape functional constituency seat. This was an unexpected gain last time around and arose only because there were two pro-government candidates competing against each other, allowing the democrat to win with a minority share of the vote. The pair did not make the same mistake in the by-election.
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On Hong Kong Island, the winning margin was only 50 per cent to 47 per cent, a far cry from the glory days when the democratic camp could count on the support of around 60 per cent of the electorate.
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Similarly with the public works projects backlog. Choose one or two where there is an issue and hold the administration’s feet to the fire. Wave the rest through and get Hong Kong back to work.
The cause of political reform remains an important one for the community, and one to which the administration needs to return soon. But it is not front of mind now for most ordinary people. They are more concerned with livelihood issues like the cost of housing, career prospects for their children and so on. The democrats need to focus on matters of concern to the grass roots. This is the area where they are strongest. The reason they went into politics in the first place and fought for a more representative system of government was to improve the circumstances of the poorer members of society. It is folly of the highest order to allow others to seize the initiative here.
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The next priorities are to unify the camp better and strengthen electioneering tactics. The primary system was a good idea for a by-election because there is only one candidate per seat. For the next election, where this factor does not apply, there needs to be a proper carve-up of the different constituencies and discipline to adhere to the outcome. Some political leaders will miss out, but need to swallow their pride and get their supporters out to vote for the agreed slate of candidates. And when it gets to the campaign itself, everyone has to get out into the streets and housing estates and face the electorate squarely. Hong Kong voters want to look people in the eye and squeeze their shoulders to size them up. Barking at them through loudhailers is just not going to cut the mustard.
If they can do all this – it is a big if – the pan-democratic camp can regain support. They would also raise the level of public discourse, which will benefit all sides.
Mike Rowse is the CEO of Treloar Enterprises. [email protected]