Hong Kong district council election: main opposition party fields fewer-than-expected number of candidates at 6 for race

Hong Kong’s main surviving opposition party has endorsed a fewer-than-expected number of candidates to run for the city’s newly reformed district council election, a stark contrast to the more than 100 hopefuls lined up by its pro-Beijing rival.

Democratic Party chairman Lo Kin-hei revealed on Sunday his party would send six candidates to run for directly elected seats, instead of eight as earlier reported.

“Each person has different concerns and circumstances. We respect the thoughts of each of our members, should some of them decide not to run after receiving a nomination,” Lo said.

Proposed candidates from the Democratic Party included Lo himself, vice-chairwoman Bonnie Ng Hoi-yan, incumbent district councillor for Yau Tsim Mong district Leo Chu Tsz-lok, and former district councillors Nelson Ip Tsz-kit, Li Shee-lin, and Poon Ping-hong.

The opposition party chairman said he had obtained the full names and addresses of area committee members from the Electoral Affairs Commission, allowing the party to reach such individuals by mail for nominations.

Lo said he would mail documents containing the party’s ideals, suggestions for the coming policy address, manifestos for the respective districts and candidates’ personal information for area committee members’ perusal.

“We hope that [area committee members] will make their judgment based on the information we have provided,” Lo said.

Lo is set to run in Southern district, with Ng competing in the Central and Western district.

Chu will continue to run in Yau Tsim Mong district, while Ip will return to Kwun Tong to run for its southeastern constituency.

Li would return to her former seat for the northwestern constituency in Southern district, while Poon is eyeing the newly created Hong Wan constituency in Eastern district.

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Under the electoral overhaul which came into force in July this year, the proportion of directly elected representatives was slashed from nearly 95 per cent to just 19 per cent, meaning only 88 of 470 seats will be chosen by the more than 4 million registered voters in Hong Kong.

Another 176 seats will be selected by government-appointed members of three types of district committees stacked with Beijing loyalists.

To compete, contenders must receive three nominations from each of the three committee types, as well as nominations from at least 50 constituents.

The remaining 179 seats will be appointed by city leader John Lee Ka-chiu.

Hong Kong Democratic Party endorses 8 hopefuls for district council poll

Meanwhile, the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) on Sunday said it would send more than 100 candidates to run for elected and appointed seats.

Chairman and lawmaker Gary Chan Hak-kan said among their hopefuls, more than 95 per cent had a tertiary education, over 30 per cent had professional backgrounds in business, and more than 30 per cent were younger than 35.

He said he expected a fiercer competition under the reduced number of directly elected seats.

“We know that the competition will be more intense than in the past,” he said. “Voters are asking for higher quality candidates. Other than academic qualifications that we usually talk about, they ask for the ability to advocate certain policies.”

He admitted there would be a certain degree of difficulty for DAB candidates running for the direct election because the scale of the constituencies had been expanded and the party’s work in some areas had previously lagged behind.

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Asked if party members on the district committees would avoid nominating Democratic Party candidates, DAB vice-chairman Holden Chow Ho-ding said they would only approve patriots.

“I doubt that someone who politicised the district council and used it as a platform to oppose China and stir up trouble in Hong Kong in the past can convince the committee members that they are patriots and to nominate them,” he said, without naming the Democratic Party.

“I believe our members will be able to judge who the true patriots are.”