Lee Wing-tat

Lee Wing-tat
李永達
Chairman of the Democratic Party
In office
12 December 2004  17 December 2006
Preceded by Yeung Sum
Succeeded by Albert Ho
Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
In office
9 October 1991  31 July 1995
Preceded by New constituency
Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Constituency New Territories South
In office
11 October 1995  30 June 1997
Preceded by New constituency
Succeeded by Replaced by Provisional Legislative Council
Constituency New Territories South-west
In office
1 July 1998  30 June 2000
Preceded by New parliament
Succeeded by Tang Siu-tong
Constituency New Territories West
In office
1 October 2004  30 September 2012
Preceded by New seat
Succeeded by Michael Tien
Constituency New Territories West
Personal details
Born (1955-12-25) 25 December 1955
Hong Kong
Nationality Chinese
Political party Democratic Party
Spouse(s) Josephine Chan Shu-ying
Alma mater St. Paul's College
University of Hong Kong
Occupation Politician
Lee Wing-tat
Traditional Chinese 李永達
Simplified Chinese 李永达
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Lee.

Lee Wing-tat (born 25 December 1955 in Hong Kong) is a Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), returned by direct election as representative of the New Territories West constituency. He was the third Chairman of the Democratic Party (DP). He is seen as a conservative inside the party.

Early life

A Hakka, Lee was elected vice-chairman of the Hong Kong University Students' Union in 1979. He graduated from the Faculty of Science of the University of Hong Kong with a pass. He first participated in politics in the 1980s and was the Vice-Chairman of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL). He was elected to the District Council and the Regional Council in 1985 and 1986 respectively. He was a founding member of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China.

In 1989, during the visit of Geoffrey Howe to Hong Kong, Lee protested at the conference and called Howe's speech "bullshit".[1]

Lee left the ADPL and formed the United Democrats of Hong Kong (香港民主同盟,港同盟), which developed into the Democratic Party in 1994. He was elected to the Legco in the same year. He once lost his seat in the 2000 election but was re-elected in 2004. He was vice-chairman of Democratic Party from 2002 to 2004 and was elected Chairman at the sixth AGM of the DP in succession to Yeung Sum. His challenger for the Chairman's post, Chan King-ming, was elected Vice-Chairman instead.[2]

Chairmanship of Democratic Party

Chief Executive Election

In May 2005, Lee declared his intention to run in the Hong Kong Chief Executive Election, but only received 52 nominations and thus failed to get on the ballot. As a result, he withdrew from the election on 15 June. His participation in the election faced great criticisms within the party and the pro-democracy camp.

Criticisms

Lee was criticized for suppressing the second-tier members and "Young Turks" of the party. In early 2006, someone alleged to the Apple Daily that some senior members were involved in spying activities of China. The "suspects" were all Young Turks and included vice-chairman Chan King Ming and Gary Fan. The Young Turks later held a press conference to criticise the list of "suspects", with some even directly naming Lee as responsible.

Departure

Lee did not seek a second term as party chairman in the party's internal elections in December 2006.

Views, policy positions and Legco voting

In June 2010, he voted with the party in favour of the government’s 2012 constitutional reform package, which included the late amendment by the Democratic Party – accepted by the Beijing government – to hold a popular vote for five new District Council functional constituencies.[3]

References

  1. Video on YouTube
  2. "Hong Kong Democrats name new leader". NewsBank. RTHK. 12 December 2004. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  3. Cheers and jeers for political reform vote, SCMP, Gary Cheung, Albert Wong and Fanny WY Fung, 25 June 2010
Political offices
Preceded by
John Ho Tung-ching
Chairman of the Kwai Tsing District Board
1988–1991
Succeeded by
Leung Kwong-cheong
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
New constituency Member of Legislative Council
Representative for New Territories South
1991–1995
Served alongside: Albert Chan
Succeeded by
Himself
as Representative for New Territories South-west
Preceded by
Himself
as Representative for New Territories South
Member of Legislative Council
Representative for New Territories South-west
1995–1997
Replaced by Provisional Legislative Council
New parliament Member of Legislative Council
Representative for New Territories West
1998–2000
Succeeded by
Tang Siu-tong
New seat Member of Legislative Council
Representative for New Territories West
2004–2012
Succeeded by
Michael Tien
Party political offices
Preceded by
Yeung Sum
Vice Chairperson of Democratic Party
2000–2004
With: Law Chi-kwong (2000–2002)
Albert Ho (2002–2004)
Succeeded by
Chan King-ming
Chairperson of Democratic Party
2004–2006
Succeeded by
Albert Ho
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