Decision a setback for HKU professor Benny Tai's call for pro-democracy parties to forge united front in coming elections
DANNY.MOK@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Tuesday, 03 May, 2016, 1:48pm
Occupy Central co-founder and HKU law professor Benny Tai hopes the pan-democrats can secure half the seats in the coming polls. Photo: May Tse
A plan to maximise the pan-democratic candidates’ chances of winning District Council “super seats” in the coming Legislative Council elections hit its first suspect after the Neo Democrats decided not to support the proposed coordinating mechanism.
In a special general meeting on Monday night, the party, which spun off from the Democratic Party in 2010, voted against joining a proposed primary election for the pan-democratic candidates. The idea came from Occupy Central co-founder and University of Hong Kong associate professor of law Benny Tai Yiu-ting as part of his “Thunderbolt Plan”.
Following the Neo Democrats’ veto, Tai’s proposal will be difficult to implement, as it requires the participation of six pan-democratic parties.
The lack of a coordinated effort could mean infighting among pan-democratic candidates in the race for the super seats.
Since early February, Tai has been calling for pan-democrats to forge a united front in the September election and support his plan, which he said might enable the pan-democrats to grab half the seats and erase the pro-Beijing camp’s majority.
At the Neo Democrats’ meeting, two lists of candidates for the geographical constituencies of New Territories East and the New Territories West were approved.
The party’s incumbent lawmaker Gary Fan Kwok-wai will run in his New Territories East constituency, while its Tsuen Wan district councillor Roy Tam Hoi-pong will go for the New Territories West seat.
Neo Democrat district councillor Kwan Wing-yip, who has been endorsed by the party to run for the super seat, said his participation would not necessarily adversely affect the pro-democracy camp’s performance.
“Is it a must for the camp to put forward only three [candidates]? Why don’t we be a bit ambitious and aim for four seats?” he asked.
There are five super seats in total and pro-establishment camp currently holds two of them.
The party has wanted to offer more choice to voters on top of the incumbents from the Democratic Party and the Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood, whose performance was far from satisfactory, he said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1940603/will-thunderbolt-plan-fizzle-neo-democrats-wont-join
