Ordinary Gweilo

An inauspicious 44% of those eligible to vote in yesterday’s elections for the District Council did so, and the big losers were the DAB, whose leader Tsang Yok-sing said a lot of stupid things about the 1 July march against the anti-subversion laws (which arise from Article 23 of the Basic Law).

The BBC website says

Opposition parties in Hong Kong make big gains in local elections – the first after big anti-government protests.

Well, apart from the fact that none of the parties in Hong Kong’s Alice in Wonderland style political system are in government. Yes, the DAB is pro-Beijing, supports Tung Che-Hwa and faithfully toes the Communist Party line, but they aren’t formally part of the government. Although we have a ministerial system, the ministers are mainly ex-civil servants, and they aren’t members of a political party (somebody please correct me if I am wrong on this).

The DAB got it badly wrong on Article 23, and are being punished for it. Hong Kong people want a government that will fight for Hong Kong’s interests in Beijing, and I believe that the PRC government is less worried about that than many people imagine. They have too many other things to worry about and would happily let the Chief Executive get on with things in his own way. Unfortunately they chose the wrong man, and now the Democrats and their allies have gained such momentum that the LegCo elections next year should be another triumph for them and another disaster for the DAB. But what happens after that? I’m afraid we’re still a long way from a normal Western-style political system, but that is a subject for another day.