HONG KONG DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTION: A TRIAL RUN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HONG KONG 001951

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP AND EAP/CM
NSC FOR DENNIS WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2032
TAGS: CH HK PGOV PHUM PINR PREL
SUBJECT: HONG KONG DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTION: A TRIAL RUN
FOR DEMOCRACY

REF: HONG KONG 1853

Classified By: E/P Chief Laurent Charbonnet. Reasons: 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) Summary: On November 18, Hong Kong will choose 529
District Councillors, 80 percent of them directly elected by
universal suffrage. The District Councils are subordinate to
the Legislative Council, but play an increasingly important
advisory role to the government on grass-roots issues. While
we expect no changes before the November vote, the democrats
will continue to press for direct election of the remaining
20 percent of District Councillors, as a building block for
their advocacy of direct election of the entire Legislative
Council (Legco, in 2008) and of the next Chief Executive (CE,
in 2012),while the pro-Beijing parties will advocate a
slower timetable for full democracy. All parties will also
have to take into consideration the recent release of the
Government's long-anticipated Green Paper on democratic
reform. The three-month period for discussion of the Green
Paper will end just as the District Council election
campaigns begin in mid-October, so debate on democratic
reform will likely accompany and perhaps overshadow local
district issues.


End Summary.


2. (C) Comment: The District Council (DC) election process
has taken a step backwards since British rule when all
District Board members were directly elected. After the
handover in 1997, then-CE Tung Chee Hwa instated the
appointment of 102 of the 529 district council members
beginning with the DC election in 1999. Now Hong Kong
democrats are pushing for the abolishment of the appointed
seats at the District Council level, consistent with their
advocacy of direct elections by universal suffrage at the
Legco and CE level. Though never viewed as important as the
Legco or Chief Executive (CE) elections, this year the DC
Elections are generating more attention, given the recent
release of the Green Paper and timing of the elections, only
ten months in advance of the next Legco election.

End Comment.

Hong Kong District Council: A Primer
--------------


3. (U) The District Council was established in 1982 by the
British colonial administration to advise the Hong Kong
Government (HKG) on local issues within Hong Kong's 18
districts. Following Hong Kong's 1997 reversion to China,
District Management Committees (DMCs) chaired by District
Officers (DOs) were set up for each district. Depending on
the size of the district, each DMC has between 14 and 46
District Councillors (DCs),elected by universal suffrage or
by functional constituencies who serve as liaisons between
their local constituencies and the HKG; the total number of
DCs currently is 529. The DCs and the DOs work closely
together and report to the Steering Committee on District
Administration (SCDA),which is chaired by the Secretary for
Home Affairs.

Basic Law Authorization
--------------


4. (U) The Hong Kong Basic Law (Article 97) authorizes the
establishment of "district organizations which are not organs
of political power" to advise the HKG and provide local
services. Other Hong Kong laws and regulations specify the
role, functions, and composition of the District Councillors.
In general, they are charged with informing the HKG on
matters affecting the well-being of their constituents and
the provision and use of public facilities and services
within their districts. They also allocate central
government funds for environmental improvements, promote
recreational and cultural programs, and sponsor community
activities.

Providing More Resources to District Councils
--------------

5. (C) In January, a pilot scheme endorsed by the Executive
Council was launched in four districts (Wan Chai, Wong Tai
Sin, Tuen Mun, and Sai Kung) to provide additional resources
for District Councils to initiate community-involvement
projects. The proposal will be fully implemented in all 18
districts by the next District Council term in January, 2008.
The proposal stipulates an annual provision of HK$300

HONG KONG 00001951 002 OF 003


million (US$38.5 million) to support work in the 18
districts; however, it is unclear how the funds will be
distributed. Cyd Ho, former Legco member and current District
Councillor in the Central and Western district, informed us
that she and fellow District Councillors repeatedly asked
former Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Ho to provide a
formula showing how the funds will be distributed, but the
office of the Secretary has yet to announce its methodology.
Cyd Ho believes the District Councils are playing
increasingly important roles in urban development,
environmental protection, and "social equality." The
additional funds will further strengthen their positions.
However, concerns that the HK$300 million will be allocated
unfairly have overshadowed the positive intentions of the
proposal.

District Council Elections
--------------

6. (U) The third District Council election since the handover
is scheduled for November 18, 2007. As specified in the
District Council Ordinance, 400 councillors will be directly
elected by voters casting single ballots. Each district gets
one councillor for every 17,000 residents, approximately.
They represent geographically determined sub-districts. The
candidate who receives the largest number of votes from his
sub-district wins; there is no run-off election. In
addition, the Hong Kong Chief Executive will appoint 102 DCs,
and 27 ex-officio members will be chosen from the chairmen of
Rural Committees in the New Territories. In choosing the 102
appointed DCs, the CE reportedly considers the candidates'
"professional qualifications, commitment to service, personal
integrity, past record of public service, as well as
recommendations by the Home Affairs Bureau," according to the
Constitutional Affairs Bureau. Since the 529 District
Council members also select 42 of their members for seats on
the 800-member CE Election Committee, the CE has a particular
interest in selecting council members who share his views.
All 529 DCs will serve a four-year term that will begin on
January 1, 2008.

Pan-Democratic Unity?
--------------


7. (SBU) In 2003, candidates from the democratic parties won
92 seats (77 percent) of the 120 contested seats; the
remaining 280 of the 400 directly elected seats were
uncontested. Though the democrats were able to obtain more
elected seats than the pro-government parties, the CE's
appointment of 102 pro-government members, combined with
incumbents in uncontested seats, resulted in a District
Council with a pro-Beijing majority. With this in mind, for
the 2007 election the pan-democratic parties -- Democratic
Party, Civic Party, and The Frontier -- have formed an
alliance called the "Democratic Coalition for District
Council Elections." Their principal demand is universal
suffrage for all elections and the abolition of appointed
seats in the District Council. The coalition hopes that
early coordination among pan-democratic candidates will
increase the final number of candidates running in the
November elections. Richard Tsoi Yiu-Cheong, spokesman for
the coalition and the key player in initiating negotiations
among the democratic candidates, announced in July that the
pan-democrats would field 282 candidates to contest 272
constituencies; 134 of the candidates would be incumbents.


8. (C) Starry Lee Wai-King, District Councillor for the
Kowloon City District and a member of the pro-Beijing
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong
Kong (DAB),informed us that the DAB began organizing and
preparing its members to run in the 2007 DC election back in

2005. According to Lee, the DAB has been recruiting members
actively for past two years and is determined to maintain its
status as Hong Kong's largest political party. In regards to
universal suffrage for the CE and Legco elections, the DAB
supports the full implementation of "one man, one vote" by
2017 as congruent with Hong Kong's Basic Law principle of
gradual and orderly progress.

Rehearsal for Legco Elections
--------------


9. (C) In some respects, the 2007 District Council election
will constitute a trial run for the September 2008
Legislative Council (Legco) election. The political parties
will see how much local support they can generate for leading
candidates, learn about media reaction, and improve their
campaign strategies for the Legco election. Civic

HONG KONG 00001951 003 OF 003


Participation Progam Manager Yan-yan Yip of ivic Exchange
(an independent Hong Kong think-tak) told us that District
Council election resultsmay not, however, accurately predict
any particuar results for the Legco election. In 2003, the
pan-democrats won more District Council seats than the
pro-government candidates, but the latter then "fought a
better battle" and gained more seats in the 2004 Legco
elections. Note: The November elections will be particularly
important for the Civic Party. Founded in 2006 with Kuan
Hsin-Chi as chairperson, the Civic Party gained legitimacy
and support when party member Alan Leong ran and lost as the
only opposition against incumbent Donald Tsang in the March
2007 Chief Executive election. The 2007 District Council
election will be first in the party's history.


"Green Paper Effect"
--------------


10. (SBU) On July 11, the Hong Kong Government released a
"Green Paper" outlining various options for electoral reform
(reftel). The three-month public consultation and comment
period will conclude just one month before the District
Council election, so the candidates and their parties
probably will need to address in their campaigns many of the
issues raised in the paper. The candidates' positions on
electoral reform and universal suffrage may be factored into
their parties' election strategies. Yip of Civic Exchange
believes that candidates will avoid in-depth discussion of
the numerous components of the Green Paper, but will stress
their stances on the major points, such as "for or against
universal suffrage by 2012." Candidates must declare their
intentions to run six weeks before the November 18 election
date, five days before the conclusion of the Green Paper
consultation period.


11. (SBU) The Green Paper also includes detailed proposals
for reforming the role and the election process of the
District Councils. For example, the number of District
Council members serving on the Chief Executive (CE) Election
Committee might increase from 42; thus it is in the interest
of all parties to gain support and establish positions in as
many constituencies as possible to increase their chances of
influencing the next CE election.

Public Participation in Politics
--------------


12. (C) According to Ronald Chan, deputy to former Secretary
for Security Regina Yip and co-founder of her Savantas Policy
Institute (a Hong Kong-based think-tank),2007 will be the
"most competitive year in the history of DC Elections" and
that "every seat will be contested," unlike in the past. Both
Yan-yan Yip of Civic Exchange and Ronald Chan speculate that
the candidates running in the 2007 District Council elections
will be younger compared to previous elections. Chan, in his
mid-20s, is considering running for a seat in the Pok Fu Lam
district on Hong Kong Island against an incumbent who has
been in office for nearly ten years. He believes younger
Hong Kongers are more politically active, and are shaking off
the stereotype of being politically apathetic and
economically driven. Yip believes the trend toward younger
politicians, along with more civic groups and organizations
began in 2003 in response to the hot issues (Article 23
security legislation, SARS epidemic, huge July 1 democracy
demonstration) of that year.


13. (SBU) Although voter turnout for the 2003 District
Council elections was 44 percent, up from 30 percent in 1999,
2003 was unique as it saw political controversy and a sharp
economic downturn; all the political parties are concerned
that voters may be less politically engaged in 2007, a much
more economically and socially stable time. To address this
issue as well as compensate for inflation, the HKG has
increased the campaign expense limit from HK$45,000 to
HK$48,000 (US$6,154); it hopes a larger campaign budget will
encourage candidates to campaign more vigorously and motivate
more people to vote.
Marut