(DAB) ( political party in the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the
People's Republic Of China . Founded in
10 July 1992 , the party has been headed by
Ma Lik since December 2003.
The DAB is a conservative and pro-Beijing party. Some opinion polls allege that the party is less popular among the younger generation, citizens with higher education levels, and those who are dissatisfied with the current government system.
A merger with the
Hong Kong Progressive Alliance was announced on
16 February 2005 . The two parties were merged with new leadership selected on
31 May 2005 .
The party started with a single seat on the
Legislative Council (LegCo). The 1995 LegCo elections increased the DAB's share to six seats. After 1997 when Hong Kong was
Transferred to the People's Republic of China (PRC), DAB enjoyed political favour from the PRC, and gained a number of seats in Legco through Functional Constituency election which was deemed unfair, and they remain unfavour in local district direct election. In 2000 it had ten councillors in Legco. The most recent Legislative Council election in 2004, it become the largest (by number) political party to be represented with 12 seats, with the Liberal Party coming second (10 seats), and the Democratic Party coming third (9 seats).
Twelve district councillors joined the party on its formation, a share that increased to 37 seats in the 1994 elections and 83 in 1999. In the wake of the controversies over the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law in 2003, the party's popularity dropped drastically and the November 2003 District Councils elections saw its seats drop to 62. The election results have led to the resignation of its former Chairman, Jasper Tsang Yok-sing. However, due to the health of Ma Lik, Tsang still effectively controls the DAB.
The DAB and its sister organisation
HKFTU are famous for their ability to mobilize their supporters, including employees of PRC state-owned companies, to vote for their candidates in elections. In the
2004 Legislative Council Election , although support of
Chan Yuen Han 's ticket is far higher than
Chan Kam Lam 's, both in the same constituency and representing DAB and HKFTU, the two organisations managed to share their supports equally among the two tickets, despite a remarkable difference in support in earlier polls. At another constituency, the ticket of
Ma Lik and
Choy So Yuk ultimately benefitted from a democratic camp mix-up that led to the resignation of the Democratic Party's leader,
Yeung Sum .
The DAB has been accused of providing benefits to certain people, including seafood meals and local trips to
Outlying Islands at prices significantly lower than market rates. Other allegations include free transport and meals to mobilise people to rally for its cause. However, none of these practices are strictly illegal, and are also practised in most democratic Western countries.
However, it is alleged that some of the participants do not know they are going to join the rallies, but rather think they are part of a trip, until they are sent to the venue.
As the biggest political party of Hong Kong, the 10-year-party can be divide to four main factions:
Members belonging or came from the
Federation Of Trade Unions .
Members from the former Hong Kong Progreesive Alliance.
