My Take | Another political chance awaits ADPL veteran
Frederick Fung looks ready to leave the party he helped found to run as an independent, and his career in politics may well take a different turn
It has been rumoured for many weeks that pan-democratic old guard Frederick Fung Kin-kee is ready to abandon ship. Now, it looks like he is finally ready to announce he is resigning from the Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood, a party he helped found and of which he remains the boss.
He appears to be preparing to run as an independent candidate in the upcoming Legislative Council by-election.
Between Fung and the opposition, there is no love lost. He failed to win re-election in the 2016 Legco poll. Before the by-election in March, he came second in the so-called primary of the opposition camp and would have served as a backup to leading candidate Edward Yiu Chung-yim, who subsequently lost anyway.
However, Fung later claimed he was told by opposition figures to quit the race, otherwise another rival would be put in place to run against him. For opposition unity, he duly quit, but the breach was irreparable.
By quitting his own party, he would be free from having to compete again in a primary in which he could expect no support from opposition bosses.
There has already been an exodus of key members from the ADPL. Fung’s expected departure is likely to deal a death blow to the three-decade-old party, which focuses on labour and livelihood issues for the grass roots.