Hong Kong elections: winning felt good, but novice district councillors find the going tough, outnumbered by pro-establishment camp, ‘ignored’ by officials
- In the final instalment of a four-part series, first-time councillors hope for change if pan-dem candidates sweep next month’s polls
- Winning camp’s main prize is getting 117 seats in committee to elect city’s chief executive
Some called it a miracle when first-time candidate Andy Chui Chi-kin contested and won a seat in the Eastern District Council four years ago.
The trader was inspired to enter politics after taking part in the 2014 Occupy pro-democracy protests, which shut down parts of central Hong Kong for 79 days.
Standing as an independent, the new face unseated long-time incumbent and pro-Beijing politician Christopher Chung Shu-kun in Chai Wan constituency, after just six weeks of campaigning.
Looking back, Chui, 52, said: “The election itself was not a challenge. The real challenge started only after I won.”
The reality of district council politics hit home when he found himself in a 35-member body where pro-Beijing councillors outnumbered pan-democrats by 25 to 10.
“We pan-democrats have been fully blocked in the council, with none of our motions ever passed,” he said. “We’ve given up raising motions as we know our rivals will change the wording before getting them passed.”
All 18 district councils in Hong Kong are dominated by the pro-establishment camp. Their overwhelming numbers also mean the pro-establishment group takes up the entire block of 117 seats set aside for councillors in the 1,200-member special committee that elects the chief executive.