The ADPL survived through the great unification of the pro-democracy camp in the 1991 and became the only pro-democracy party to sit in the Beijing-controlled Provisional Legislative Council in 1997. It was ousted for the first time in the 1998 Legislative Council election. Its veteran former chairman Frederick Fung was the only legislator for the ADPL until he was defeated in the 2016 Legislative Council election in which the party was ousted from the legislature for the second time.
Strive for a high degree of autonomy in Hong Kong under Chinese sovereignty and to implement the "one country, two systems" principle;
Advocate democracy, fight for full implementation of direct elections for the Legislative Council, safeguard basic human rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people and preserve Hong Kong's judicial independence;
Maintain Hong Kong's prosperity and stability and promote economic development in Hong Kong; and
Distribute social resources fairly, improving the quality of life of the less well-off.
Within the pro-democracy camp, the ADPL is usually considered more moderate. Besides demanding universal suffrage, it emphasises livelihood issues and has supported an increase in profits and salaries taxes while opposing sales tax, a stance more favourable to lower income groups. The party has also called for an increase in education and coverage of medical expenses.
Initially, the ADPL engaged in the electoral reform debate, advocating direct election of the legislature in 1988. It supported the liberal proposals put forward by the Group of 190 coalition. The ADPL was one of the three major pro-democracy groups and performed fairly well in the local and municipal elections the 1980s with its strategic allies the Meeting Point and the Hong Kong Affairs Society. At its peak, it had 140 members, 28 District Board members, one Legislative Councillor, 5 municipal councillors.
In 1990, some leading figures of the ADPL such as vice-chairmen Lee Wing-tat and Albert Chan joined the United Democrats of Hong Kong, which later became the Democratic Party. The ADPL retained its separate identity, arguing that it represented grassroots interests whereas the United Democrats were more focused on the middle class.[4] However, as many members joined the new party, the ADPL's membership dropped significantly to only 70 members, 15 District Board members and two municipal councillors.
As the ADPL chairman Frederick Fung was elected to the Legislative Council in the 1991 direct election and other members were elected to municipal councils, the ADPL stabilised and matured from a political organisation to a political party in 1992.[5] It won one seat in the first direct election of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) in 1991 when Fung was elected. In the 1995 election, the party won four seats. At the time, due to near-parity of representation between the pro-Beijing and pro-democracy camps in Legco, the stance of the moderate ADPL was influential and often pivotal on controversial issues.
On the issue of the establishment of the Provisional Legislative Council, the ADPL initially opposed but then agreed to join the interim body. This led to a group of 16 members leaving to form the Social Democratic Front.[6] ADPL became the only pro-democracy party in the legislature immediately after the establishment of the HKSAR, keeping four members in the interim body. ADPL members also served on the Preparatory Committee for the establishment of the HKSAR.
After 1997
The ADPL lost all its seats in the 1998 Legco election. In the 2000 election, long-time chairman Frederick Fung recovered his directly elected seat in Legco for the ADPL.
At the district level, ADPL traditionally enjoyed a concentration of support in the Sham Shui Po District, with numerous seats across other District councils in the 1990s but it largely lost its influence outside of Sham Shui Po in the early 2000s. The party's seats mainly concentrated in Sham Shui Po, followed by Yau Tsim Mong and Kowloon City Districts in Kowloon West, where Frederick Fung retook his Legco seat in, as well as Wong Tai Sin and Tuen Mun. Following a poor showing in the 2007 District Council elections, Fung resigned as chairman and was replaced by Bruce Liu.
Fung ran in the New Territories West after losing his eligibility to run in District Council (Second) in the 2016 Legislative Council election, while his party colleague Tam Kwok-kiu ran in Kowloon West for the second time. Kalvin Ho, a new Sham Shui Po District Councillor represented the ADPL to run in the District Council (Second). Both Fung and Tam lost in the election while Ho withdrew from the campaign to boost other pro-democrat candidates' chance to win. As a result, the ADPL was ousted from the legislature for the second time. Rosanda Mok resigned for the election defeat. In December, the party elected Sze Tak-loy as its new chairman.
Around the end of 2016, the ADPL's six district councillors, which included all its members from Yau Tsim Mong District Council and Kowloon City District Council, quit the party in a disputes concerning the intra-party primary for the March 2018 Kowloon West by-election, in which Frederick Fung intended to run, leaving the ADPL with only 12 District Councillors.[7] Kalvin Ho, who also intended to run in the primary, later withdrew.[8] As the party resolved to nominate Fung, former chairperson Rosanda Mok also left the party in June 2017.[9] After losing to Yiu Chung-yim in the primary, Fung announced he would not become the backup candidate if Yiu's candidacy was disqualified amid alleged pressure from the progressive democrats forcing him to withdraw.[10] On 12 July 2018, Fung announced his departure from the ADPL amid speculation that he was going to run for the November Kowloon West by-election as the party intended to back Lau Siu-lai.[11]
Post National Security Law
Chairman Kalvin Ho and vice-chairman Sze Tak-loy was charged with subversion under the National Security Law in 2021, resigned respectively later after bail granted by court. Yeung Yuk became the acting chairman of ADPL. On 15 October 2021, amidst a crackdown on pro-Democracy political parties and organizations after the enactment of the Hong Kong national security law in 2020, the ADPL allowed members to sign up and contest in the 2021 Hong Kong legislative election.[12] While Bruce Liu signaled his interest in running again for the seat, none of the members signed up. The defeat of all moderates and democrats in the election marked by low turnout pressured Yeung, who supported Frederick Fung in the campaign and angered some pro-democracy activists, to resign as the acting chair of the party, citing his wish to focus on local issues.[13] Bruce Liu was elected as the new chairman on 16 April 2022.[14]
ADPL intended to join the elections by filling two candidates in the 2023 District Council elections after the election system was overhauled, but neither of the candidates was able to get nominations from the members of the "three committees", many of which came from the pro-Beijing parties.[15] Bruce Liu said that the ADPL has entered the "desert stage", describing the current regional administration as being like Shenzhen's system.[16]
^Davies, Stephen; Roberts, Elfed (1990). Political Dictionary for Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Macmillan Publishers (HK) Ltd.
^基本資料. Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
^Allen, Jamie (1997). Seeing Red: China's Uncompromising Takeover of Hong Kong. Taylor & Francis. p. 169. ISBN9810080832.
^Chiu, Stephen Wing Kai; Lui, Tai Lok (2000). The Dynamics of Social Movements in Hong Kong: Real and Financial Linkages and the Prospects for Currency Union. Hong Kong University Press. p. 42.
^Allen, Jamie (1997). Seeing Red: China's Uncompromising Takeover of Hong Kong. Taylor & Francis. p. 176.
