Hong Kong’s Civic Party, one of the city’s biggest democratic parties, has announced its disbandment after a vote by its members. The party was made up mostly of professionals, lawyers, and academics and was considered a moderate democratic voice that appealed to the city’s middle-class voters. At its peak, it won six seats in the Hong Kong legislature during the 2012 elections and was the city’s second-largest pro-democracy party after the Democratic Party. However, several members were charged with subversion under the China-imposed national security law following massive 2019 protests calling for political freedoms.
Civic Party chairman Alan Leong told reporters that the dissolution of the party was a “writing on the wall” as there was no one to take over. None of its members filed nominations for executive positions at an extraordinary general meeting, and 30 of the 31 members voted to disband, with one person abstaining.
Since the national security law was passed, many pro-democracy political organizations in Hong Kong have already disbanded, including the protest organizer Civil Human Rights Front and the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which was behind the annual Tiananmen Square vigil. The city has undergone major changes to its political landscape, with an overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure that only “patriots” loyal to China can take office. More than 200 people have been arrested for allegedly committing acts that endanger national security. The city has not seen a large-scale pro-democracy protest since 2020.
