Are the Democrats loyal to the opposition?

01 point of view

Written by: Review Editor

2020-04-28 18:00

A number of district councillors issued a "Declaration of Position on the Front of the Parliament", claiming that "the weight of the election of the chairman of the internal association lies in the paralysis of the unfair internal conference." For the parliamentarians who were accused of "releasing their hands" to speed up the conference process, they criticized it as "an act of weakness", and said that if the democrats are not united, "even if 35+ succeeds, it will only be reduced to the loyal opposition of the power of love "".

This statement of position stated that "the democratic camp is not allowed to fight internally," but it also publicly forced Pan Fan to clarify its position and follow their paralyzed ideas. District Councillors believe that "the weight of the election of the president of the internal council is to paralyze the inequitable internal conference." If "unfair" exists in the functional constituency, but there are also ex officio members in the district council, why not paralyze the district council?

These contradictions reflect the difficulty of being in politics in Hong Kong, and the democrats often retreat. After all, they all have to face the problem of how to position. As we reminded last week, if members of the Legislative Council intend to use all possible means to paralyze the Parliament, they may be cut by the President of the Legislative Council and formed by the establishment. They may not be able to do as they wish. But even if it is not to paralyze the parliament, politicians are by no means doing nothing. The district board members who were elected following the wave of anti-amendment laws have not helped many neighborhoods in recent months, especially during the epidemic. Although the democrats are only a minority in the Legislative Council, they are not incapable of doing practical things and proposing good solutions on economic and livelihood policies.

The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office issued three drafts to bombard Guo Rongkeng's conduct of presiding over the internal meeting. Guo Rongkeng was accompanied by a democratic party to hold a press conference, saying that the central government had written DQ on the wall. (Photographed by O'Gallery)

The opposition must have the ability to govern

When it comes to the "loyal opposition", it seems to be quite negative in the context of democratic citizens in recent years. Perhaps it is influenced by the term "loyalty." It is thought that the "loyal opposition" is superficially opposed and actually caters to everything. In fact, the term comes from British parliamentary politics. Last century ’s British constitutional scholar Sir Ivor Jennings explained this way: “Our Constitution assumes that at any time, if the government resigns, loses, or splits, the opposition can Form a substitute ... Her Majesty ’s opposition is her Majesty ’s replacement government. The opposition leader is close to Her Majesty ’s replacement Prime Minister. "In other words, the focus of the" loyal opposition "is its platform and ability to govern.

It is a pity that the political reality of Hong Kong is far from this vision of comparing talents and talents. "Tearful voting" just reflects that many voters do not support democratic candidates, but just do not want to be elected by the establishment. Last year ’s district council elections, the traditional Pan-Political Party understood quite well that it was not that they did a very good job, but that the establishment faction was particularly poor in the anti-revision laws.

The turmoil in the anti-amendment laws has further torn apart the society of Hong Kong, and also greatly narrowed the political space of the democrats. Today, even the Legislative Council will progress a little bit, and it has been criticized by district board members as "ambiguous" and questioned as "love stack power." But frankly, if it were not for power, why did they run for election? To stand for election is to enter a broad political system and obtain statutory powers, including deciding how to make good use of public money resources and holding officials accountable as members of parliament. District councillors who have also entered the system do not ask how to make good use of power. They only require legislators to paralyze the internal council, and the paralyzed council itself is not within the scope of the power of the parliamentarians. The "Parliamentary Rules" guarantee the normal operation of the parliament. Even if there are opportunities to obstruct the parliamentary process, the chairman of the parliament has the right to terminate it. The election of the chairman of the internal meeting has spent 16 meetings, and now it is slightly inward, and it has been buckled up with the hat of "ambiguity" and "love stack power". When one day the democrats are reduced to "fight against the yellow" and test and enforce the unification of their positions with a clear attitude towards each other, what does this remind people of?

Not "contradictions between the enemy and me"

We often remind the government, the establishment faction, and even the Central Liaison Office not to look at the democratic factions with a clear enemy. Hong Kong ’s people ’s livelihood issues and even the political reform plan, the democrats are the objects that can cooperate, or should even cooperate. The united front organized by the Chinese Communist Party can not only win over its own people, but also beckon to the democrats representing broad public opinion to repair the relationship. Deng Xiaoping said in 1984 that the people promoted by the Hong Kong people should have left, right and centrists. "In this way, people from all walks of life will feel better. To deal with these issues, the central government will focus on the big picture, not Stick to the section. "

Even if the Legislative Council elections in September, the non-institutional faction really took down 35+ seats, this would not be a "power seizure", because Hong Kong's political structure is "executively-led" and the power of the Legislative Council is quite limited. It can be said that it is a clever way for the colonial government to absorb public opinion with a political system. In Chinese political language, the Democrats are not "contradictions between the enemy and ourselves", but "contradictions among the people"; in British parliamentary politics, the Democrats are "loyal opposition", not that they must agree in everything "Loyalty" means that they have the potential to provide another set of political platforms and governance programs that compares with the established schools.

Contemporary political theory scholar Jeremy Waldron once pointed out that the loyal opposition is an important part of the development of democracy and the implementation of democracy in the early stages, so that political parties understand that a temporary election defeat does not mean that the eternal victory or defeat has been divided. In fact, there is no eternal victory or defeat. We must also accumulate achievements and compete for the next election. In the November 2018 Legislative Council by-election, Chen Kaixin, who was elected by the establishment, took 49.52% of the votes, which is more than the sum of Li Zhuoren and Feng Jieji, but only one year later, the formation faction was about four pairs. The 60% vote was defeated by the democrats, which shows that public opinion can be turned quickly and there is no permanent victory or defeat. This change in public opinion and rotation of seats are also healthy. Can the people of Hong Kong adapt to this normal operation, instead of looking at it with a contradictory vision? Before politicians decide to run for election, have they ever thought about whether they want to enter the system, use existing channels to bring about change, or stay outside the system to "fight" and fully customize the degree? If they choose the latter, can they promote Hong Kong's progress and reform?

Entering the system, of course, will lose the moral high ground left outside the system, and may even be criticized as "love stack power." In the system, if one wants to exchange results with other parties, sometimes it is necessary to compromise and sacrifice personal "halo". But is the personal halo of politicians important, or is it important to promote social change? If the politician "love stack aura", many political and social changes in ancient and modern China and abroad may not happen.

How do the democrats manage themselves under the new situation?

Is it time for the Liaison Office of the Liaison Office to "contact" Panmin?

Can politicians in Hong Kong use politics as a kind of career?

01 depth

Legislative Council District Council Loyal Opposition Guo Rongkeng 01 Opinion