Sawt Falasteen - Hong Kong's oldest pro-democracy party announces dissolution

The Democratic Party was founded in 1994, near the end of British colonial rule, when Hong Kong's leading liberal groups merged.

"Over these thirty years, we have taken part in and borne witness to the development and transformation of Hong Kong society, watching its systems and environment undergo one profound change after another," the party said in a statement.

"Yet as the times have shifted, we now, with deep regret, must bring this chapter to a close," it added.

At Sunday's meeting, 117 out of 121 members voted to the group's liquidation, with the remaining four votes being blank ballots, Lo Kin-hei, the party's chair, told a news conference.

He said that it was a "collective decision" made by party members, adding that it is the best way forward for them.

"We are deeply grateful to all the citizens who have walked with the Democratic Party for the past 30 years," Lo said.

The party's end should spur the public to ask hard questions, Emily Lau, former chair of the party, told AFP earlier this year.

"I don't understand why the Democratic Party would end up like this," former party leader Emily Lau said to reporters when leaving the meeting Sunday.

"I think Beijing needs to provide an explanation," she said.

Lo said the disbandment was due to Hong Kong's "political environment" but declined to provide details of the constraints the party was facing.

- 'Regression' -

The Democratic Party's top concern was determining how the city would eventually elect its own leader and lawmakers through universal suffrage under China's "One Country, Two Systems" model.

It said in its manifesto that "as part of the Chinese citizenry, we have the rights and obligations to participate in and comment on the affairs of China".

Following Hong Kong's handover to China in 1997, the party became the most influential voice of opposition in the city's legislature and led peaceful street demonstrations.

The disbandment decision indicated the regression of Hong Kong from being a liberal society into an authoritarian society, said Yeung Sum, a former party leader who has served jail time.

The 78-year-old added that younger generations would feel frustrated if the political system went "backwards".

"I think this kind of fighting for democracy will carry on, even though we got ourselves disbanded today," Yeung said. "We won't die away. We won't fade away."

Beijing tightened its grip on the Chinese finance hub after massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

After the imposition of the national security law, the city's political opposition dwindled, with most democracy campaigners jailed or overseas.

The party holds no elected seats after its lawmakers resigned en masse from the Legislative Council in 2020.

Four party lawmakers were jailed last year for subversion under a Beijing-imposed national security law.

Former party leader Albert Ho is behind bars pending trial for national security charges that could see him jailed for life.

Hong Kong's second-largest opposition group, the Civic Party, closed its doors in 2023.

Another party, the League of Social Democrats, announced its disbandment in June this year, citing "immense political pressure".

"The Hong Kong government should be more open, they should accept more different kinds of opinions, even though there may be some opposition," Lo said on Sunday.

"But that is how the society works and that is how things progress," he added.

W.Mansour--SF-PST