The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, the biggest party in the Legislative Council, announced Tuesday its decision not to take part in the by-elections to be held as a result of the resignation of five legislators from the Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats (LSD). The Liberal Party made the same move not long ago, and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions also indicated to do the same yesterday.

Now all major political parties and groups have made their stands clear. The Civic Party and LSD are receiving little support and it seems certain that they will have to stage a monodrama.

The two parties may feel disappointed, but they reap what they have sown. It was they who shouted such seditious slogans as "referendum", "uprising" and "liberation", exposing to Hong Kong people their ulterior motive behind the by-election show. When they first put forward the idea of "general resignation in the five geographic constituencies", the general public thought it was merely a way to express their dissatisfaction with the consultation on electoral reform, and the resignations would only lead to by-elections.

Yet, when "general resignation" became "referendum", and when they openly called for a "general uprising" and "liberating Hong Kong", the nature of the movement changed. It has become an attempt by a handful of people to take advantage of the by-elections to hijack Hong Kong's people in order to achieve their political goal of an illegal "referendum". As the spokesman of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council solemnly pointed out, this is a blatant challenge to the Basic Law as well as the related decisions of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

Such radicalism can only intensify confrontation and arouse widespread anxiety in society. It would not contribute anything good to the well-being of Hong Kong.

Recently, seldom has a day gone by without hearing condemnation hurled at the two parties. More and more people are coming forward to call for a boycott of the by-elections, urge the government not to apply for their funding, and call for quick amendment of the law to prevent inappropriate resignations by legislators in the future.

Boycotting the by-elections is a way to oppose the so-called "referendum". In face of such a major issue of principle, all boycott moves comply with mainstream opinion in the SAR. Thanks to the boycott, the five resigned "freedom fighters" may be able to make it back to the legislature safely. But that would not be anything to be proud of. In the eyes of the people of Hong Kong, they are actually a rejected bunch.

(HK Edition 02/04/2010 page1)