Everything about Pro-democracy Camp totally explained
Pro-democracy camp (Chinese: 香港民主派) is a term frequently used by Chinese state-run
media and
pro-establishment academics to refer to the
politicians and
social activists in the
City of Hong Kong. Democratic activists are usually critical of the post-1997
Hong Kong Special Administration Region government and the
People's Republic of China's
authoritarian government, which they say doesn't properly represent the
will of the people. People who vote for pro-democracy candidates are generally hoping to achieve some implementation of
checks and balances in government, since the Hong Kong community treats
democracy as an important means to guarantee freedom, their lifestyle and their living standard., only the
Communist Party may
unilaterally dominate an elected body in China.
History
Members of the camp include social workers and social activists who took part in Hong Kong's
district board,
Urban Council and
Regional Council elections in the early 1980s, as well as professionals, mainly lawyers, who entered the Legislative Council when
functional constituencies were introduced in the mid-1980s. Several political groups existed during the era. The foundation of its public support has its roots in opposition to the
1989 Tiananmen Massacre which aroused widespread horror, symphathy and support of the protestors by
Hong Kong citizens. The crackdown on Chinese media and subsequent
suppression of student dissent was a mobilizing factor; and the
first direct election to the Legislative Council in 1991 brought the amalgamation of some of these groups into the
United Democrats of Hong Kong.
The "Pro-Democracy Camp" term has been in common use since the 1995 election of the
Legislative Council, when the
Democratic Party, newly merged from the
United Democrats of Hong Kong and
Meeting Point, together with other smaller political parties, groups and independents, controlled nearly half of the seat of the council and was the largest force. Some of the members of the camp, especially the Democratic Party, were often considered strategic allies of the government of
Chris Patten, then
governor.
All of its members, except the
Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, declined to join the extralegal
Provisional Legislative Council installed by the government of the
People's Republic of China, and were ousted from the territory's legislature for a year until the 1998 election. Starting from the 1998 election, since the
plurality electoral system was changed to
proportional representation, compounded with the restoration of corporate votes in the functional constituencies, and replacement of broad-based functional constituencies with traditional ones, the number of seats of the camp dipped, albeit having similar share of vote. Within the camp, share of smaller parties and independents increased relatively, with the share of the Democratic Party falling from around two-thirds in 1995 to less than a half by 2004.
In recent years, use of "pan-democrat" (泛民主派) is gaining in popularity, as it's typically meant to be non-denominational and all-inclusive. In addition, to some people, it's less likely than 民主派 to cause confusion with the Democratic Party (民主黨).
Members of the camp tend to use the latter term to identify themselves, due to overuse of the "Pro-Democracy Camp" term in negative tones by its detractors. "Pan-Democrat" as a title has grown in usage especially during the passage of the
national security and anti-subversion legislation, the subsequent
2003 district council and
2004 LegCo elections, and the debate over electoral reforms for the 2007 Chief Executive and 2008 LegCo elections.
PRC Criticism
The movement is criticized in
media controlled by the
PRC central government authorities and post-1997
Hong Kong SAR puppet government as an "
opposition camp" (反對派), since their desires for freedom of speech, freedom of press, and self-determination contradict with the politics of the PRC government (for example
anti-communism 反共,
anti-authoritarianism). Some members in the camp, especially
Martin Lee 李柱銘, are also accused of sympathizing with or being agents of the
United States and the
United Kingdom against the communist government. In some cases, proponents of democratic reform have even been accused of
high treason.(漢奸, literally "traitor to the
Han Chinese, see
hanjian).
Members of the camp
Civil organisations, individual social activists, political parties, political groups and lawmakers who share a similar belief in democracy are all considered members of this camp.
The following entities are routinely referred to as members of the Pro-Democracy camp:
Notes:
1. Lau Chin Shek isn't considered as a pro-democrat by some members of the camp such as Raymond Wong.
In the previous sessions of the LegCo
123 Democratic Alliance
Citizens Party
Meeting Point (one of the predecessors of the Democratic Party)
United Democrats of Hong Kong (one of the predecessors of the Democratic Party)Further Information
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