Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong - Definition

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The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) (民主建港聯盟, 民建聯) is the largest pro-government political party in Hong Kong SAR of the People's Republic of China. Founded in 10 July, 1992, the party has been headed by Ma Lik since December 2003.

The party started with a single seat on the Legislative Council. The 1995 LegCo elections increased the DAB's share to six seats; by 2002 it had reached its current count of ten councillors. The most recent Legislative Council election in 2004 saw it become the largest (by number) political party to be represented with 12 seats, with the Liberal Party coming second (10 seats), and the Democratic Party coming third.

Twelve district councillors joined the party on its formation, a share that increased to 37 seats in the 1994 elections and 83 in 1999. In the wake of the controversies over the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law in 2003, the party's popularity dropped drastically and the November 2003 District Councils elections saw its seats drop to 62. The election results have led to the resignation of its former Chairman, Jasper Tsang Yok-sing.

The DAB was considered a conservative and pro-government party vis-a-vis the Democratic Party, and was not popular among especially the younger generation who demands political reforms and a better system of checks and balances against the government. Nevertheless, despite the pessimistic expectation on the performance of the party in the 2004 LegCo elections, the party performed relatively well, which might suggest that there were still strong support among the public for their platform of maintaining stability.

See also:

• Politics of Hong Kong
• List of political parties in Hong Kong

External links

• Official website (http://www.dab.org.hk/en/info/main.asp)