District Councils of Hong Kong

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The District Councils, formerly District Boards until 1999, are the local councils for the 18 Districts of Hong Kong. Under the supervision of Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong Government, administration and affairs.

History

An early basis for the delivery of local services were the Kaifong associations, set up in 1949. However, by the 1960s, these had ceased to represent local interests, and so, in 1968, the government established the first local administrative structure with the city district offices, which were intended to enable it to mobilise support for its policies and programmes, such as in health and crime-reduction campaigns. An aim was also to monitor the grass roots, following the 1967 riots.^[1]

Under the Community Involvement Plan, launched in the early 1970s, Hong Kong and Kowloon were divided into 74 areas, each of around 45,000 people. For each, an 'area committee' of twenty members was then appointed by the city district officers, and was comprised, for the first time, of members from all sectors of the local community, led by an unofficial member of the Legislative Council (Legco). The initial purpose was to help implement the 'Clean Hong Kong' campaign, by distributing publicity material to local people.This was held to be a success.^[1]

A next stage in the government's effort to increase local engagement and influence was the setting up, in June 1973, of mutual aid committees (MACs) in high-rise residential buildings. These were described in Legco as "a group of responsible citizens, resident in the same multi-storey building who work together to solve common problems of cleanliness and security." In fact, they were tightly controlled by the government. With government encouragement, the number of such committees increased rapidly in these private buildings, from 1,214 in 1973 to 3,463 in 1980. The scheme was extended to public housing estates, of which 800 had MACs in 1980, as well as factories and in the New Territories.^[1]

The next development was the establishment of eight district advisory boards in the districts of the New Territories, starting with Tsuen Wan in 1977. The boards, whose members were appointed, were more formally constituted than the city district boards, charged with advising on local matters, recommending minor district works, and conducting cultural and recreational activities.

Then in 1982, under the governorship of Sir Murray MacLehose, the district boards were established under the District Administration Scheme. The aim was to improve co-ordination of government activities in the provision of services and facilities at the district level and the boards initially took over the roles of the district advisory boards.^[1][2]

At first, the boards comprised only appointed members and government officials, but from 1982, a proportion of each was elected.^[1] In an attempt to inject a democratic element into the Legislative Council, the government introduced a model where some legislators were elected indirectly by District Council members. Twelve legislators were returned by an 'electoral college' of district councillors in 1985. The practice was repeated in 1988 and 1995.^[3]

After the HKSAR was established, as part of the 'through train', the district boards became provisional district boards, composed of all the original members of the boards supplemented by others appointed by the chief executive. (Under the British administration, the Governor had refrained from appointing any member.)

Later in early 1999 a bill was passed in the Legislative Council providing mainly for the establishment, composition and functions of the District Councils, which would replace the Provisional District Boards. The 27 ex officio seats of Rural Committees, abolished by the colonial authorities, were reinstated. The government rejected any public survey or referendum on the issue, saying that it had been studying the issue since 1997, and had received 98 favourable submissions. The self-proclaimed pro-democracy camp dubbed the move "a setback to the pace of democracy" because it was a throwback to the colonial era.^[4]

In 2010, the government proposed that five legislators be added to district council functional constituencies, and be elected by proportional representation of elected DC members.^[5] In a politically controversial deal between the Democratic Party and the Beijing government, this was changed to allow the five seats to be elected by those members of the general electorate who did not otherwise have a functional constituency vote.

Operation

Councils

Map of district councils

There is a district council for each of the following eighteen districts. The number in parentheses corresponds to the number shown on the map at the right.

• Hong Kong Island
  • Central and Western District (15)
  • Eastern District (16)
  • Southern District (17)
  • Wan Chai District (18)
• Kowloon (including New Kowloon)
  • Kowloon City District (10)
  • Kwun Tong District (11)
  • Sham Shui Po District (12)
  • Wong Tai Sin District (13)
  • Yau Tsim Mong District (14)
• New Territories
  • Islands District (1)
  • Kwai Tsing District (2)
  • North District (3)
  • Sai Kung District (4)
  • Sha Tin District (5)
  • Tai Po District (6)
  • Tsuen Wan District (7)
  • Tuen Mun District (8)
  • Yuen Long District (9)

Independence

The party affiliations and politics in the Legislative Council can be echoed in the District Councils, who have sometimes been accused of slavishly supporting the government. Prof. Li Pang-kwong, of Lingnan University, says that the problematic framework of the councils, being under the Home Affairs Bureau, has led them to work too closely with government. He cites the example of the 'copy and paste' Queen's Pier motions passed by 13 councils to support government decisions as a rubber-stamp, and a clear sign that councils lacked independence. Dr Li recalled a similar government 'consultation' on universal suffrage in 2007, in which two-thirds of the councils passed a vote in support of its position. After it was revealed that the government was behind the concerted District Councils' motions in 2008 supporting the relocation of Queen's Pier, Albert Ho condemned the government of tampering with District Councils to "create public opinion", and for turning District officers into propagandists.^[7]

Elections

District Council elections, 2007

Main article: Hong Kong local elections, 2007

 Summary of the 18 November 2007 District Councils of Hong Kong election results

Political Affiliation			Popular vote	%	%±	Standing	Elected	±
		Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong	292,916	25.73	2.79	178	115	40
		Civil Force	30,880	2.71	0.27	20	18	3
		Liberal Party	50,026	4.39	1.63	55	14	3
		Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions	4,208	0.37	0.11	3	1	1
		Tseung Kwan O Residents' Association	1,922	0.17	-	1	1	-
		Tin Shui Wai Women Association	1,457	0.13	-	1	1	-
		Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions	1,339	0.12	0.12	1	1	0
		New Territories General Chamber of Commerce	818	0.07	-	1	0	-
		New Century Forum	543	0.05	0.03	1	0	0
		Hong Kong Civic Association	390	0.03	-	5	0	-
		Independents	226,645	19.91	-	161	118
Total for pro-Beijing camp			614,621	53.98	7.38	430	273	61
		Democratic Party	175,054	15.38	5.90	110	59	21
		Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood	52,386	4.60	0.46	37	17	7
		Civic Party	48,837	4.29	-	41	8	2
		League of Social Democrats	28,601	2.51	-	29	6	0
		Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre	12,565	1.10	0.24	5	4	0
		Frontier	18,203	1.60	0.81	15	3	3
		Yuen Long Tin Shui Wai Democratic Alliance	9,530	0.84	0.04	11	1	4
		Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions	2,273	0.20	0.18	2	0	2
		Civic Act-up	991	0.09	0.40	2	0	2
		Individuals	60,510	5.31	-	44	10	-
	Total for Democratic Coalition for DC Election		409,573	35.97	-	296	108	-
		Independent democrats and others	36,208	3.18	-	39	19	-
Total for pan-democracy camp			445,781	39.15	5.51	335	127	56
Independent and others			78,133	6.86	2.21	142	5	-
Total (turnout 38.83%)			1,138,358	100.0	-	907	405	5

Note 1: The total seats of the District Councils are 534 including 27 ex-officio members (Rural Committee Chairmen in the New Territories), and 102 members appointed members by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
Note 2: Candidates ran under both DAB and FTU banners were all counted as DAB in this chart.

In December 2007, Donald Tsang named 27 government-appointed Council members.^[9]

• 13 members of the Liberal Party
• 11 members of the DAB
• three members from the Federation of Trade Unions

Tsang was criticised for not appointing a single member of the pan-democrats in either 2003 or 2007.^[9]

District Council elections, 2011

 Summary of the 6 November 2011 District Councils of Hong Kong election results

Political Affiliation			Popular vote	%	%±	Standing	Elected	±
		Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong	282,119	23.89	1.84	182	136	16
		Civil Force	35,221	2.98	0.27	20	15	3
		Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions	36,646	3.10	2.73	20	11	7
		Liberal Party	23,408	1.98	2.41	24	9	3
		New People's Party	15,568	1.32	-	12	4	3
		New Territories Association of Societies	2,187	0.19	-	2	2	1
		Economic Synergy	2,404	0.20	-	3	1	1
		Fu Cheong Estate Residents Association	2,235	0.19	-	1	1	1
		Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions	1,859	0.16	0.04	2	1	0
		Pro-Beijing Independents	252,720	21.40	-	172	121	3
Total for pro-Beijing camp			654,368	55.42	1.77	438	301	23
		Democratic Party	205,716	17.42	2.04	132	47	3
		Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood	45,453	3.85	0.75	26	15	2
		Neo Democrats	25,437	2.15	-	10	8	0
		Civic Party	47,603	4.03	0.26	41	7	5
		Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre	14,364	1.22	0.11	6	5	2
		Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions	4,044	0.34	0.14	3	0	0
		Power for Democracy	3,837	0.32	-	4	0	0
		Individuals	23,007	1.95	2.33	14	6	1
	Total for Democratic Coalition for DC Election		369,461	31.29	3.60	236	88	9
		People Power	23,465	1.99	-	62	1	1
		League of Social Democrats	21,833	1.85	0.66	28	0	5
		Land Justice League	3,025	0.26	-	4	0	0
		Citizens' Radio	1,718	0.15	-	2	0	0
		Independent democrats and others	45,015	3.81	-	37	14	3
Total for pan-democracy camp			464,512	39.34	0.18	369	103	16
Independent and others			61,930	5.24	1.96	108	8	2
Total vaild votes			1,180,809	100.0	-	915	412	7
Invaild votes			21,497
Total (turnout 41.49%)			1,202,544

After the election, Donald Tsang appointed 68 members, non of them were from the pan-democrats camp.

District Council elections, 2015

 Summary of the 22 November 2015 District Councils of Hong Kong election results

Political Affiliation			Popular vote	%	% ±	Standing	Elected	±
		Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong	309,262	21.39	2.50	171	119	0
		Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions	88,292	6.11	3.01	48	27	2
		New People's Party	75,793	5.24	0.94	42	26	1
		Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong	27,452	1.90	-	16	10	4
		Liberal Party	25,157	1.74	0.24	20	9	1
		Kowloon West New Dynamic	11,647	0.81	-	5	3	1
		New Territories Association of Societies	2,356	0.16	0.03	2	2	0
		Federation of Public Housing Estates	3,457	0.24	-	1	1	1
		Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions	3,168	0.22	0.06	2	1	0
		New Century Forum	1,717	0.12	-	1	0	1
		Pro-Beijing Independents	241,088	16.68	-	178	100
Total for pro-Beijing camp			788,389	54.61	0.81	486	298	6
		Democratic Party	196,068	13.56	3.86	95	43	1
		Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood	55,275	3.82	0.03	26	18	2
		Neo Democrats	42,148	2.92	0.77	16	15	8
		Civic Party	52,346	3.62	0.41	25	10	3
		Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre	16,105	1.11	0.11	6	5	0
		Labour Party	23,029	1.59	-	12	3	2
		Power for Democracy	3,938	0.27	0.05	1	1	0
		Sha Tin Community Network	3,718	0.26	-	2	1	1
		League of Social Democrats	6,526	0.45	1.40	5	0	0
		Individuals	52,612	3.64	-	38	9
	Total for Democratic Coalition for DC Election		451,765	31.25	0.04	226	105	21
		Youngspiration	12,520	0.87	-	9	1	1
		Democratic Alliance	5,313	0.37	-	4	1	0
		Kowloon East Community	3,922	0.27	-	3	1	1
		The Frontier	2,974	0.21	-	1	1	0
		People Power	11,503	0.80	1.19	9	0	0
		Tuen Mun Community	5,196	0.36	-	4	0	0
		Civic Passion	3,006	0.21	-	6	0	0
		Tsz Wan Shan Constructive Power	3,633	0.25	-	2	0	0
		North of the Rings	1,710	0.12	-	1	0	0
		Land Justice League	1,482	0.10	0.16	1	0	0
		Tsuen Wan Dynamic for the People	1,500	0.10	-	1	0	0
		Independent democrats and others	77,767	5.38	-	66	17
Total for pro-democracy camp			581,058	40.20	1.00	335	126	25
Independent and others			75,079	5.19	0.19	117	7	4
Total valid votes			1,445,526	100.0	-	935	431	19
Invalid votes			21,703
Total (turnout 47.01%)			1,467,229

After this election, this election would abolish the appointed members of the Hong Kong District Council.

See also

• Districts of Hong Kong
• Legislative Council of Hong Kong
• Politics of Hong Kong
• Pro-Beijing camp
• Pan-democracy camp

References

• De Golyer, Michael (13 October 2005). Building a backbone, Commentary, The Standard.

Footnotes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to District Council of Hong Kong.

• Home page of District Councils