Proletariat Political Institute

Proletariat Political Institute is a political organisation and school headed by Wong Yuk-man, former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It was first established by Wong in 2010 as a political educational institute within the League of Social Democrats (LSD), a pro-democratic social democratic party where Wong was the then chairman. It quit the LSD under Wong's leadership and became one of the coalition members of the radical democratic party People Power in 2011. It left the People Power in 2013 and became one of the leading organisations for the localist cause in Hong Kong.

Proletariat Political Institute
普羅政治學苑
ChairmanWong Yuk-man[1]
Founded28 June 2010 (2010-06-28)[2]
HeadquartersRm. 418, Wah Wai Industrial Building, No. 53-61 Pak Tin Par Street, Tsuen Wan, New Territories, Hong Kong
IdeologyDirect democracy
Hong Kong localism
Radical democracy
Colours  Yellow
Legislative Council
0 / 90
District Councils
0 / 479
Website
www.hkppi.com
Proletariat Political Institute
Traditional Chinese普羅政治學苑
Simplified Chinese普罗政治学苑

History

Proletariat Political Institute was first created in 2010 as a political school of the League of Social Democrats, a pro-democratic social democratic party where Wong was the then chairman.[3] It aimed to train young members on political theory, speech making, district work, and public policy research for nurturing the vision for youth.[4]

Proletariat Political Institute quit the LSD when Wong and another legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip split with the LSD in 2011, due to their dissatisfaction with the policies of the then chairman Andrew To Kwan-hang and his faction, especially To's decision not to spin the Democratic Party, the flagship pro-democratic party, which negotiated with the Beijing government in secret and supported the government's reform proposal.[5][6]

It became one of the coalition members of People Power with Power Voters, supported by Stephen Shiu Yeuk-yuen, the owner of the Hong Kong Reporter, the re-grouped Frontier, and the two pro-Taiwan organisations: China Youth Organization and Democratic Alliance when it was established in 2011. People Power fiercely attacked the Democratic Party in the 2011 District Council election and 2012 Legislative Council election.

The Proletariat Political Institute went independent with Wong Yuk-man when Wong quit People Power in 2013 over the disagreement regarding the 2014 Hong Kong electoral reform and the pan-democrats' Occupy Central plan. Wong expressed doubts over the plan while Stephen Shiu, the main donor of People Power, supported the plan. Shiu also attacked Wong Yeung-tat, Wong Yuk-man's protege, for his opportunism.[7][8] Since then, Wong Yuk-man's Proletariat Political Institute has become close to Wong Yeung-tat's Civic Passion.

Since 2013, the Proletariat Political Institute has become more sympathetic towards the localist cause. It organised memorials for the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, in opposition to the main candlelight vigil held by the pan-democrats' Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China (HKASPDMC), which they criticised it for having a Chinese nationalistic theme. The Proletariat Political Institute, Civic Passion, and other localist groups organised an alternative 4 June rally in Tsim Sha Tsui. The alternative event attracted 200 people in 2013 and 7,000 in 2014, compared with 180,000 and 150,000 respectively for the main event.[9][10]

In 2016, the Proletariat Political Institute, Civic Passion, and Hong Kong Resurgence Order, headed by the "mentor" of the localism Chin Wan, announced that they would form an alliance for the upcoming 2016 Legislative Council election.[11] Its chairman and only LegCo representative, Wong Yuk-man, was defeated by a narrow margin by another localist, Youngspiration's Yau Wai-ching.

Performance in elections

Legislative Council elections
Election Number of
popular votes		  % of
popular votes		 GC
seats		 FC
seats		 Total seats +/− Position
2016 20,219Steady 0.93Steady 0 0
0 / 70
 1Decrease –

See also

References
  1. "Members' Biographies - Hon WONG Yuk-man". Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
  2. "Proletariat Political Institute Company Limited". Hong Kong Business Directory.
  3. "隔牆有耳：何俊仁向黃毓民道歉". Apple Daily. 4 August 2010.
  4. Cheng, Joseph Y. S. (2014). New Trends of Political Participation in Hong Kong. City University of HK Press. p. 402.
  5. 黃毓民倒戈 社民連分裂伙陳偉業牽頭退黨 長毛未有決定, *Ming Pao*, 24 Jan 2011
  6. League on verge of collapse as heavyweights lead party exodus, SCMP, 24 Jan 2011
  7. But, Joshua (20 May 2013). "Lawmaker Wong Yuk-man quits People Power". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  8. Cheung, Tony (22 May 2013). "People Power feels 'Mad Dog' Wong Yuk-man's bite". South China Morning Post.
  9. Ip, Kelly; Phneah, Jeraldine; NectarGan (5 June 2013) "Undampened" Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine. The Standard.
  10. Tiananmen massacre remembered at massive Hong Kong vigil, chinaworker.info, 6 June 2014
  11. "本土組織將派5人出選立會 陳雲或出戰新界東". Apple Daily. 29 February 2016.
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