Hard fight looms for pro-Beijing side in polls

Pro-establishment lawmaker Priscilla Leung Mei-fun will seek reelection in Kowloon West but conceded her camp's chance of winning three seats in the constituency in the September polls was "not good."

The Business and Professionals Alliance lawmaker said yesterday that although it would be difficult, the pro-establishment camp is aiming to secure three seats in Kowloon West to stop the opposition from gaining an unprecedented majority in the upcoming Legislative Council elections.

The pro-democracy camp plans to field four candidates in the hopes of winning four out of the six seats in Kowloon West for the second time after winning four seats in the 2016 Legco elections.

They also hope to gain a majority in Legco to force the chief executive to agree to the protesters' five demands by threatening to veto the budget, which is considered an act of "mutual destruction."

To stop the opposition from engaging in "mutual destruction," the pro-establishment camp has to aim for three seats in Kowloon West, despite the chances of winning not appearing to be good, Leung said.

Leung, 59, has represented Kowloon West since 2008, and hoped her experience over the past three terms would help counter the opposition in the next term.

"Seeking re-election was not an easy decision, but given that the confrontations in the legislature are getting more and more serious, my experience can help counter those confrontations in the future," she said.

The pro-establishment camp managed to win two seats in the 2016 Legco elections.

Besides Leung, pro-establishment independent Rebecca Chan Hoi-yan and the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong's Vincent Cheng Wing-shun have also said they will run in Kowloon West in September.

Meanwhile, in the pro-democracy camp, Frankie Fung Tat-chun announced he would not run in the Legco elections last night, in a U-turn from his decision on Wednesday, despite losing in the primaries.

"After discussions with other victorious candidates in the primaries, we have come to a consensus to send only four candidates to represent the pro-democracy camp, which will give us the best chance of winning four seats in Kowloon West," Fung said.

"I therefore would like to call upon my supporters to cast their votes for other pro-democracy candidates in the upcoming Legco elections," he added.

Fung was initially ahead of Kalvin Ho Kai-Ming in the pro-democracy primaries to clinch the last spot to qualify in Kowloon West, but was eventually edged out.

In the functional constituencies, the Civic Party's Gordon Lam Sui-wa announced he would challenge incumbent Liberal Party's Tommy Cheung Yu-yan for the catering sector.

Lam, the convener of the Hong Kong Small and Medium Restaurant Federation, said: "Cheung is only cooperating with the government, and unable to speak for the catering sector. I therefore hope there will be a new representative for the catering sector in the legislature."

Meanwhile, pro-establishment Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers vice chairman, Lawrence Tang Fei, who is also a principal of a secondary school in Tseung Kwan O, will run for the education functional constituency seat.

Tang said he hoped to "cool down" the sector after the political heat during the pro-democracy movement in recent months, adding that he is confident he will be able to win the trust of the central and SAR governments, and fight for the sector.