1999 Hong Kong local elections

In comparison to the 1994 District Board elections, the pro-Beijing camp improved their performance and closed the gap with the pro-democracy camp. Although the Democratic Party maintained its share of votes, its success rate decline slightly due to the fct the party nominated far more candidates than it had in the 1994 elections. The Democratic Party contested directly with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), the pro-Beijing party, in 96 constituencies, of which 54 were won by the Democrats, 36 by the DAB contenders and 6 by other candidates. Incumbents changing their constituencies such as Stanley Ng Wing-fai in Yau Tsim Mong District and Shirley Ho Suk-ping in the Sha Tin District were defeated by the pro-Beijing candidates.

Other pro-democracy parties such as the 123 Democratic Alliance and the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) failed to achieve any breakthrough in elections. The 123 Democratic Alliance increased both its success rate and the number of candidates, but only winning 6 seats. It remained a small party and was eventually dissolved in 2000 due to the lack of financial support from the Taiwan government. The ADPL filled less candidates partly due to some ADPL defecting to the Democratic Party in 1997 after the internal dispute over the question of joining the Beijing-controlled Provisional Legislative Council. The ADPL failed to penetrate into other districts apart from its political base at Shamshuipo. The Frontier and the Citizens Party remained uninterested in the local elections, with the Frontier nominated only 9 candidates to compete in Sha Tin and Eastern districts, of which 4 of them were elected. The Citizens Party had only Chan Tim-shing elected in the Eastern District.

The pro-Beijing camp relied on the DAB to counter the pro-democracy forces. The DAB drastically increased its numbers of candidates from 83 in 1994 to 176 in 1999. Its success rate also rose from 44.6 per cent to 47.2 per cent, contributed by the strong grassroots work of the DAB candidates. The pro-business Liberal Party improved its performance by lower its candidates form 89 to 34, with success rate rising from 20.2 to 44.1 per cent. The Liberal Party recruited some candidates with strong grassroots networks prior the elections to compensate its weakness in district works. The party leaders, such as Chairman James Tien Pei-chun, legislators Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee and Howard Young also contested in the elections, though Chow was defeated. The Hong Kong Progressive Alliance (PA) strategically merged with the Liberal Democratic Federation of Hong Kong (LDF), nominating fewer candidates and improving its performance by winning 16 as compared to 12 in 1994. The stronghold of PA remained in the Kowloon City District, with the expansion of its influence to Sai Kung and Sha Tin districts. The Shatin-based Civil Force slightly increased its number of seats but saw a decline in its success rate.

{{-}}

{{election table|title=Summary of the 28 November 1999 District Councils of Hong Kong election results}}

|-

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan=3 |Political Affiliation

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Popular vote

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |%

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |%±

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Standing

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Elected

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |±

|-

| style="background-color:Pink;border-bottom-style:hidden;" rowspan="8" |

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" |Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong

|190,792 || 23.53 || {{increase}}11.82 || 176 || 83 || {{increase}}27

|-

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|Hong Kong Progressive Alliance}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" |Hong Kong Progressive Alliance

| 23,168 || 2.86 || {{decrease}}1.33 || 25 || 16 || {{decrease}}1

|-

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Party (Hong Kong)}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" |Liberal Party

| 27,718 || 3.42 || {{decrease}}3.98 || 34 || 15 || {{decrease}}3

|-

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|Civil Force}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" |Civil Force

|19,633 || 2.42 || {{increase}}0.65 || 14 || 11 || {{increase}}2

|-

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" |Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions

|1,074 || 0.13 || - || 1 || 1 || {{increase}}1

|-

|style="background-color: {{party color|Heung Yee Kuk}}"|

| style="text-align:left;" | New Territories Heung Yee Kuk

|942 || 0.12 || - || 1 || 1 || {{nochange}}0

|-

|style="background-color: {{party color|Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association}}"|

| style="text-align:left;" | Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association

| - || - || - || 1 || 1 || {{nochange}}0

|-

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|Independent politician}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" | Independent and others

| 177,774 || 21.92 || - || 180 || 104 || {{decrease}}4

|- style="background-color:Pink"

| colspan=3 style="text-align:left;" | Total for pro-Beijing camp || 443,441 || 54.69|| - || 436 || 232 || {{increase}}22

|-

| style="background-color:LightGreen;border-bottom-style:hidden;" rowspan="8"|

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|Democratic Party (Hong Kong)}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" |Democratic Party

|201,461 || 24.85 || {{increase}}1.69 || 173 || 86 || {{increase}}13

|-

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" |Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood

|38,119 || 4.70 || {{decrease}}2.25 || 32 || 19 || {{increase}}1

|-

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|123 Democratic Alliance}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" |123 Democratic Alliance

|11,396 || 1.41 || {{decrease}}0.60 || 10 || 6 || {{nochange}}0

|-

|style="background-color: {{party color|The Frontier (Hong Kong)}}"|

| style="text-align:left;" |Frontier

|9,388 || 1.16 || - || 9 || 4 || {{increase}}1

|-

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|Neighbourhood and Workers' Service Centre}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" |Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre

|3,295 || 0.41 || - || 3 || 2 || {{nochange}}0

|-

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|Citizens Party (Hong Kong)}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" |Citizens Party

|2,072 || 0.26 || - || 1 || 1 || {{nochange}}0

|-

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|Hong Kong Democratic Foundation}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" |Hong Kong Democratic Foundation

|1,392 || 0.17 || {{decrease}}0.42 || 1 || 1 || {{nochange}}0

|-

| width=1px style="background-color: {{party color|Independent politician}}" |

| style="text-align:left;" | Independent democrats

| 58,706 || 7.24 || - || 54 || 38 || {{increase}}7

|- style="background-color:LightGreen"

| colspan=3 style="text-align:left;" | Total for pro-democracy camp || 325,829 || 40.18 || - || 283 || 157 || {{increase}}22

|- style="background-color:#DDDDDD;"

| colspan=3 style="text-align:left;" |Independent and others

| 41,593 || 5.13 || - || 79 || 1 || {{nochange}}0

|-

|style="text-align:left;background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="3"|Total (turnout 35.82%)

|width="75" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9"|810,863

|width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.0

|style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9"|-

|style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9"|798

|style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9"|390

|style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9"|{{increase}}44

|}

Note1: The total seats of the District Councils are 519 including 27 ex-officio members (Rural Committee Chairmen in the New Territories), and 102 members appointed members by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
Note2: Councilor Lau Kong-wah who ran under both DAB and Civil Force banners is counted as a DAB member in this chart.

{{Pie chart

| thumb = right

| caption = Votes, of total, by camp

| other=yes

| label1 = Pro-Beijing

| value1 = 54.69

| color1 = Red

| label2 = Pro-democrats

| value2 = 40.18

| color2 = Green

}}

{{pie chart

| thumb = right

| caption = Seats, of total, by camp

| other =yes

| label1 = Pro-Beijing

| value1 = 59.49

| color1 = Red

| label2 = Pro-democrats

| value2 = 40.26

| color2 = Green

}}

{{bar box

|title=Popular vote

|titlebar=#ddd

|width=600px

|barwidth=500px

|bars=

{{bar percent|Democratic|{{party color|Democratic Party (Hong Kong)}}|24.85}}

{{bar percent|DAB|{{party color|Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong}}|23.53}}

{{bar percent|ADPL|{{party color|Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood}}|4.70}}

{{bar percent|Liberal|{{party color|Liberal Party (Hong Kong)}}|3.42}}

{{bar percent|PA|{{party color|Hong Kong Progressive Alliance}}|2.65}}

{{bar percent|Civil Force|{{party color|Civil Force}}|2.42}}

{{bar percent|123DA|{{party color|123 Democratic Alliance}}|1.54}}

{{bar percent|Frontier|{{party color|The Frontier (Hong Kong)}}|1.16}}

{{bar percent|Others|{{party color|Independent (politician)}}|35.86}}

}}

{{bar box

|title=Seats

|titlebar=#ddd

|width=600px

|barwidth=500px

|bars=

{{bar percent|Democratic|{{party color|Democratic Party (Hong Kong)}}|22.05}}

{{bar percent|DAB|{{party color|Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong}}|21.28}}

{{bar percent|ADPL|{{party color|Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood}}|4.87}}

{{bar percent|PA|{{party color|Hong Kong Progressive Alliance}}|4.10}}

{{bar percent|Liberal|{{party color|Liberal Party (Hong Kong)}}|3.85}}

{{bar percent|Civil Force|{{party color|Civil Force}}|2.82}}

{{bar percent|123DA|{{party color|123 Democratic Alliance}}|1.41}}

{{bar percent|Frontier|{{party color|The Frontier (Hong Kong)}}|1.03}}

{{bar percent|Others|{{party color|Independent (politician)}}|38.59}}

}}

Tung Chee-hwa appointed 102 members to the District Council after the election to prevent the pro-democracy camp from dominating the District Councils. These included 41 from various political parties, namely the Liberal Party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance. There were no democrats appointed. The pro-democrats thus lost their domination of the Kwun Tong, Wong Tai Sin and Yau Tsim Mong District Councils where the pro-democrats had 15, 11 and 6 directly elected seats while pro-Beijing camp gained 15, 10 and 6 seats and 18, 14 and 8 seats after the appointments respectively.

{{reflist}}

{{Hong Kong local elections, 1999}}

{{Hong Kong elections}}

Category:1999 elections in Asia

Category:1999 elections in China

Category:1999 in Hong Kong

1999

Category:November 1999 in China