Campaign volunteers of pan-democratic district councillor Andy Chui Chi-kin issued an open letter on Thursday urging Chui not to participate in the upcoming Legislative Council elections.
Without any prior experience in holding political office, Chui won the Yue Wan constituency seat in Eastern District Council during the 2015 district election. The result attracted significant media attention as Chui took over the constituency from long term incumbent and pro-Beijing lawmaker Christopher Chung Shu-kun.
The letter said that Chui would be going against his original campaign promise by running for Legislative Council this September, as he would no longer be able to dedicate all of his time to being a district councilor.
Chui’s campaign was founded on the promise that he would be serving the residents of Yue Wan exclusively as a full-time district councilor since Chung – his competitor who is commonly known as “Tree Gun” – of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong was considered unresponsive to residents.
In 2015, Chui registered as an independent on the last day of nomination, claiming that he did it to prevent Chung from being automatically re-elected. Prior to being a district councilor, Chui participated in the 2014 pro-democracy Occupy movement and later founded the group “Umbrella Parents.”
The public letter issued by Chui’s campaign volunteers said the Legislative Council’s election mechanism made the pan-democratic camp susceptible to division, thus Chui would be “ignoring the reality of politics” to insist upon entering the election this September.
The letter added that Chui’s idea of entering the race was “bizarre and illogical” as he only won his current position by a margin of 200 votes.
