I am beginning to think the #HK freedom struggle should take the 'opportunity' of the cancellation of Legco elections & the multi-front crackdown to develop our democratic capabilities. This can take many forms but I particularly have in mind the setting up of a shadow parliament
The shadow parliament, unlike the #HK govt or Legco, would be fully democratically elected. Its basis could be the recent pro-democracy primary + perhaps District Councils. It would be elected by people in the HK freedom struggle & represent them.
It would debate and vote on policies, including how to proceed w the freedom struggle in the face of increasingly authoritarian rule. It would be a model of democracy in #HK, something that has never existed here in any form, neither under UK or Chinese colonialism.
Atm pro-democracy Legco members face a dilemma: participate in the sham provisional Legco & risk lending it legitimacy in order to fight anti-democratic bills or boycott it & risk the regime using our absence to pass anti-democratic bills.
I'm not sure what they should do. But whether they decide to participate in the rigged system or boycott it (there are good arguments for both), the #HK freedom struggle should use this period to build a parallel society.
After the #UmbrellaMovement, I argued for a shadow parliament & parallel society, but virtually everyone in the pro-democracy movement opted for focusing on getting into Legco. Fair enough but that diverted our attention from other important areas.
Since then, there have been many regime attacks on Legco. Throughout, pro-dems have opted to carry on. The mass DQ & cancellation of Legco election are admittedly the worst, but after persevering so far, there's an argument to be made for continuing.
According to this logic, we continue fighting w/in the rigged system to the last, forcing the regime to DQ and/or imprison every last pro-dem member, showing the whole world just how ludicrously debased an already anti-democratic system has become.
Alternatively, we say, No way, enough is enough. You carry on w your rigged system and do whatever horrible things you want. We opt out. We'll develop our own system, our own parallel society. We have the #YellowEconomicCircle. Now for the #YellowDemocraticCircle.
Whatever the pro-dem Legco members decide, it's important that it be based on the will of the people in the freedom struggle, perhaps through referendum if their isn't entirely clear. (& my feeling now is that people haven't started to get their heads around the issue.)
I am also quite certain that whatever path the #HK freedom struggle takes, it will lead to prison for a great many. In the current political atmosphere, there's simply no avoiding it. So we must also factor our tolerance for this form of persecution into our decision-making.
