1999 Hong Kong local elections

Overview

In comparison to the 1994 District Board elections, the pro-Beijing camp improved their performance and closed the gap with the pro-democracy camp. Although the Democratic Party maintained its share of votes, its success rate decline slightly due to the fct the party nominated far more candidates than it had in the 1994 elections. The Democratic Party contested directly with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), the pro-Beijing party, in 96 constituencies, of which 54 were won by the Democrats, 36 by the DAB contenders and 6 by other candidates. Incumbents changing their constituencies such as Stanley Ng Wing-fai in Yau Tsim Mong District and Shirley Ho Suk-ping in the Sha Tin District were defeated by the pro-Beijing candidates.

Other pro-democracy parties such as the 123 Democratic Alliance and the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) failed to achieve any breakthrough in elections. The 123 Democratic Alliance increased both its success rate and the number of candidates, but only winning 6 seats. It remained a small party and was eventually dissolved in 2000 due to the lack of financial support from the Taiwan government. The ADPL filled less candidates partly due to some ADPL defecting to the Democratic Party in 1997 after the internal dispute over the question of joining the Beijing-controlled Provisional Legislative Council. The ADPL failed to penetrate into other districts apart from its political base at Shamshuipo. The Frontier and the Citizens Party remained uninterested in the local elections, with the Frontier nominated only 9 candidates to compete in Sha Tin and Eastern districts, of which 4 of them were elected. The Citizens Party had only Chan Tim-shing elected in the Eastern District.

The pro-Beijing camp relied on the DAB to counter the pro-democracy forces. The DAB drastically increased its numbers of candidates from 83 in 1994 to 176 in 1999. Its success rate also rose from 44.6 per cent to 47.2 per cent, contributed by the strong grassroots work of the DAB candidates. The pro-business Liberal Party improved its performance by lower its candidates form 89 to 34, with success rate rising from 20.2 to 44.1 per cent. The Liberal Party recruited some candidates with strong grassroots networks prior the elections to compensate its weakness in district works. The party leaders, such as Chairman James Tien Pei-chun, legislators Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee and Howard Young also contested in the elections, though Chow was defeated. The Hong Kong Progressive Alliance (PA) strategically merged with the Liberal Democratic Federation of Hong Kong (LDF), nominating fewer candidates and improving its performance by winning 16 as compared to 12 in 1994. The stronghold of PA remained in the Kowloon City District, with the expansion of its influence to Sai Kung and Sha Tin districts. The Shatin-based Civil Force slightly increased its number of seats but saw a decline in its success rate.

Results

General outcome

|- ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan=3 |Political Affiliation ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Popular vote ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |% ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |%± ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Standing ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Elected ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |± |- |190,792 || 23.53 || 11.82 || 176 || 83 || 27 |- | 23,168 || 2.86 || 1.33 || 25 || 16 || 1 |- | 27,718 || 3.42 || 3.98 || 34 || 15 || 3 |- |19,633 || 2.42 || 0.65 || 14 || 11 || 2 |- |1,074 || 0.13 || - || 1 || 1 || 1 |- |942 || 0.12 || - || 1 || 1 || 0 |- | - || - || - || 1 || 1 || 0 |- | 177,774 || 21.92 || - || 180 || 104 || 4

Results by district

Vote summary

Seat summary

Aftermath

Tung Chee-hwa appointed 102 members to the District Council after the election to prevent the pro-democracy camp from dominating the District Councils. These included 41 from various political parties, namely the Liberal Party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance. There were no democrats appointed. The pro-democrats thus lost their domination of the Kwun Tong, Wong Tai Sin and Yau Tsim Mong District Councils where the pro-democrats had 15, 11 and 6 directly elected seats while pro-Beijing camp gained 15, 10 and 6 seats and 18, 14 and 8 seats after the appointments respectively.

References

References

1. Chan, Ming K.. (2002). "Crisis and Transformation in China's Hong Kong". M.E. Sharpe.