+
1
6
To sum up, prior to their rising to power, the democrats should,
in a bid to avoid 'dictatorship of the democrats', learn how to get along
with the 'minorities' and train up grass-roots organizations to be monitoring
bodies. As the 'model' of democrats taking charge, the Fifteen share a
strong sense of self-discipline. Before each DB meeting, they would
hold a preparatory meeting and gather information so as to work out the
approach of discussion at the actual meeting. And then after the meeting,
they would share the follow-up work. Concerning the important issues,
the Fifteen would first reach a consensus and then take a unanimous
stand at the meeting. This positive and cooperative attitude enables
them to outshine other members and control the meetings. However, they
have never admitted other DB members to the preparatory meetings. LI Kin-
sang explained that as they had just practised this cooperative method for
a year or so and had not yet familiarized themselves with it, there was
hardly any room to accommodate others.
As regards grass-roots organizations, LEE Wing-tat also realized the
necessity of developing more intermediaries such as residents associations
which would act as the watchdog of the ruling body and as a bridge between
DB members and residents because in practice the members can hardly have
in-depth contacts with the residents nor conduct opinion survey on each
and every issue.
The absence of these intermediaries will render it impossible
for the political leaders to enlist grass-roots support. Unfortunately,
there are signs that these intermediary organizations are diminishing.
As a
I have mentioned earlier that some appointed LegCo councillors
took the Kwai Tsing DB as an example of democrats seizing power.
matter of fact, only 7 democrats were elected to the DB in 1985, they were
the minorities then.
At that time, the 7 democrats including LEE Wing-tat, Y.C. LEUNG,
C.K. SIN and K.S. LUK were known as the 'Kwai Tsing Seven'. Being the
minority group in the DB, they put special emphasis on the work outside the
Through liaising with local residents organizations, they motivated the residents to fight for their benefits.
DB.