Chan says heart told her it's time to quit politics

Michael Shum and Maisy Mok

Outgoing lawmaker Tanya Chan will quit politics altogether, saying she wants to spend more time with her mother and manage her own health.

After 14 years with the Civic Party, Chan said she will vacate her Legislative Council seat and quit the party. She will no longer run in elections as she recovers from a brain tumor.

Chan, 49, was elected a district councillor in 2007 and served two terms in Legco after being elected in 2008 and 2016, representing Hong Kong Island. She was also the convener of the pro-democracy camp for the past year.

"During these years, I have been very grateful," Chan said with teary eyes.

"I'm just an ordinary Hongkonger and I am so grateful Hong Kong people gave me the opportunity to serve my home. It is an honor and I will never regret it."

Chan expressed her love for her party mates, saying she has sweet but emotional memories of them as well as other pro-democracy lawmakers.

"I will be a little fan of my party mates and remain a supporter of the pro-democracy camp, but I do not have any plans for the future yet," Chan said.

"I will not take any interviews from the media in the future and I also have no plans to be a key opinion leader online. I just want to spend precious time with my mother - who is 24 years older than me - while both of us are still healthy."

But the new convener of the pro-democracy camp, Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai, has already given her a new mission.

"Wu has appointed me as CEO - chief entertaining organizer - and I will be arranging meal gatherings for them," Chan said.

She said her conviction in relation to the Occupy Central movement also contributed to her decision to leave.

"I will be unable to stand in the next Legco election due to my conviction anyway, which made me think that I should prioritize my family as well as my health," Chan said.

Last year Chan - along with eight pro-democratic lawmakers and activists - was found guilty of public nuisance and incitement over their roles in the 2014 Occupy Central movement.

She was handed a sentence of eight months, suspended for two years, after the court was told she would require radiotherapy for a brain tumor.

Chan said she did not announce her departure earlier as she did not want to affect the pro-democratic poll result. She hopes the public will not speculate about the reason behind her decision to leave the party.

"I have decided to leave well before the poll, and I am leaving the party as my personal decision is not in line with the party's decision. That is the reason for me leaving the party," Chan said.

Chan thanked fellow pro-democracy lawmakers for not treating her as a deserter.

She said she owes Hongkongers a lot but there were things she had not been able to achieve as a lawmaker.

For one, she apologized to environmental science professor Jim Chi-yung for not being able to push forward a tree-management law.