Meet The NeoDemocrats

The NeoDemocrats—a political group barely one year old—won a sweeping victory in this year’s District Council elections. The new group won eight seats after sending 10 candidates to run for the elections. Two of them are election novices, capturing the seats with their first foray into politics.

The political group was established last year, as the Democratic Party secretly negotiated with Beijing and supported the government’s electoral reforms. Many of the Democratic Party’s disillusioned younger members decided to leave the party.

“The electoral reforms involved a lot of differences and conflicts with our principles, values and stances. So we had to quit,” says Gary Fan, one of NeoDemocrats’ founding members.

It was not easy. Members of the NeoDemocrats were left on their own to conduct community work and election campaigns. They have taken on a simple approach: devote time to work on the ground in order to garner public support.

Many pan-democrat leaders say that they don’t have the resources or money to offer free meals and gifts to potential voters, a tactic usually employed by parties such as the DAB, which enjoys popularity among working-class and elderly voters.

“For middle-class voters, they are not much influenced by free gifts. But by [politicians] distributing free gifts, they [voters] can communicate with district councilors and feel like the councilors care about them,” Fan says. “Our strength does not lie in offering free meals and gifts. But when our opponents do so, we cannot totally refrain from it.”