Localist challenge: role of Hong Kong Indigenous remains unanswered after double Youngspiration election victory
Leader wins in New Territories East after localist Edward Leung was barred from poll
Two Youngspiration leaders have been voted into the Legislative Council, meaning the fledgling party is now the biggest localist party in the legislature.
Sixtus “Baggio” Leung Chung-hang secured a seat in New Territories East and Yau Wai-ching was successful in Kowloon West.
But following their landmark victory, a question mark remains over how the group will work with Hong Kong Indigenous as the latter was arguably a major reason Leung won his seat.
Back in February, Edward Leung won an eye-catching 66,524 votes in the by-election in the constituency, and many expected he would be able to secure a seat this time round.
After being disqualified, Edward Leung hoped to transfer his support to the Youngspiration leader.
The Hong Kong Indigenous spokesman was seen accompanying “Baggio” Leung as he campaigned on Sunday, with his group also giving resources to the Youngspiration candidate for his campaign.
Following his victory, the Youngspiration leader acknowledged Edward Leung’s support. “I have managed to retain your territory. I have completed my mission,” he said.
“Baggio” Leung is yet to clarify how the two groups will work together in the legislature.
He remained ambiguous as to whether he supported the city’s independence, an idea which Hong Kong Indigenous advocates, saying he was still afraid he might be disqualified before he was sworn in.
Edward Leung, however, did give an indication of how the alliance with Youngspiration and his party might work, when he earlier said that “Baggio” Leung would be the “face” of the seat in the legislature, while Hong Kong Indigenous would make decisions behind the scenes.
Meanwhile, “Baggio” Leung was clear he would not be forming an alliance with other localist groups in the Legislative Council.
“Localists don’t like central coordination. Forming an alliance has no real purpose for us,” he said. “We might work together [with other localists] depending on the issue.”
The lead-up to the election was marked by bitter in-fighting within the localist camp.
Most notably, veteran radical lawmaker Wong Yuk-man attacked Edward Leung for refusing to back Alvin Cheng Kam-mun, Civic Passion’s candidate on Hong Kong Island.
Ivan Choy Chi-keung, a political scientist at Chinese University, described the way the two groups came together to win a seat in the legislature as “unprecedented”.
“I think they will collaborate in the future, but it all depends on the future of Hong Kong Indigenous and how their court cases go,” he said, referring to the fact that two of its leaders – Edward Leung and Ray Wong Toi-yeung – face rioting charges, which carry a jail term of up to 10 years.
“Youngsters are capable of doing the unexpected, so there are many uncertain factors which might affect their partnership,” Choy said.
