Pro-democracy former lawmaker Frederick Fung Kin-kee has said that he is actively considering joining the upcoming by-election in the Kowloon West area. But his party, the Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood (ADPL), has clarified it has made no decision as to whether to field candidates.
The by-election triggered by the disqualification of localist politician Yau Wai-ching will be held in four to six months. Fung, a veteran in the area, said after a Commercial Radio programme on Monday that the ADPL will be electing its new leaders at the end of this month and its central committee has yet to discuss the by-election.
“But I think, as a party, which has strengths in the Kowloon West constituency where it has completed 30 years of work, I cannot see why the ADPL should not actively consider [running],” he said.
Fung, 63, said the party has an internal selection mechanism and will commission popularity polls conducted by universities for picking candidates.
“I am actively considering [running],” he said, adding that he has expressed his views to his party colleagues.
Fung was a lawmaker elected through the District Council (Second) functional constituency between 2012 and 2016. However, he lost his district council seat in 2015, meaning he was unable to run in the constituency for re-election in September.
His original stronghold – the Kowloon West constituency – was contested by party colleague Tam Kwok-kiu, and Fung decided to run in the New Territories West constituency. Both of them lost.
Kalvin Ho Kai-ming, a young candidate of the ADPL contesting a District Council (Second) seat, gave up campaigning at the last moment of the election to allow the pro-democracy camp a shot at winning three seats in the constituency. With the trio’s defeat, the ADPL currently does not have any members in the Legislative Council.
Following Fung’s statements, the ADPL posted on social media that it has made no decisions yet and it welcomed the public’s views.
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen said on Monday that the date of the by-elections will be decided by the Electoral Affairs Commission, but the ousted lawmakers could file an appeal to the highest court. It is uncertain whether the court will take the case.
Therefore, Tam said he believed that the Commission would wait for the completion of the judicial process before holding the by-elections.
