Tik Chi-yuen, a founding member of the Democratic Party, has withdrawn from it after attending the victory day military parade in Beijing on September 3.
In a letter sent to the party’s chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing and its central committee, which was obtained by HKFP, Tik said he decided to quit “not because we have lost our dream, or that we shared different dreams—we only hope to individually find a path that we believe would be more suitable in realising the dream.”
He also said there were members of the party who have publicly and privately asked him to leave the party, and that it was not easy saying goodbye to his friends of 30 years. He added that he looked forward to cooperating with the party in the future.
Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan said at a press conference that the party’s central committee has accepted his withdrawal.
Tik was one of the only three pan-democrats along with former Civic Party member Ronny Tong Ka-wah and independent lawmaker Joseph Lee Kwok-long who were invited to Beijing to watch the military parade on September 3.
He told RTHK that they were part of a more moderate group of politicians and that the Chinese government wanted to make the first step in communicating. He said he hoped that it was a good start for the central government to have better confidence in communicating with pan-democrats.
He also supported the government’s political reform package, which was rejected in LegCo in June.
The party later issued a statement to criticise his decision, saying it was “regretful” of Tik’s words and that he does not represent the Democratic Party’s views.
Tik was a founding member of the Democratic Party, which was established in 1994. He was a lawmaker from 1991 to 1995 and vice-chairman of the party from 2006 to 2008.
He has plans to form a new political platform with expelled former Democratic Party member Nelson Wong Shing-chi.
