13 losers in 2019 election back in fray

A total of 88 contestants are in the district council election on December 10 as of the first day of the nomination period yesterday, while at least 13 of them were defeated candidates in the 2019 polls.

Six of them were from a slate of nine Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong members who submitted nominations yesterday. The 2019 election saw the pro-democracy camp win by a landslide.

With an electoral system revamp, DAB chairman Gary Chan Hak-kan said "people have huge expectations of the new councils as they have not been able to deal with livelihood issues in the past four years."

Another four 2019 losers were among the six Federation of Trade Unions nominations.

Its president, Stanley Ng Chau-pei, said the FTU would be fielding 46 candidates in all constituencies. The other three are self-claimed independent Jimmy Lam Pok and Business and Professionals Alliance's Jacky Lee Chiu-yu and Ray Wong Wing-wai.

The Liberal Party also said seven candidates would vie for district council seats, with four of them, including TV host Adrianna Sung Chih-ling, standing in direct elections and the rest in indirect elections.

News of the nominations came as Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said the revamped electoral system should not be judged by the poll's turnout rate, which is expected to be low, as it will be affected by the weather and social atmosphere.

"The most important thing is to find patriots willing to serve and participate in district administration through the revamped system," she added.

The government also continued its promotional campaign, releasing a video featuring principal officials, including Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, urging people to vote on December 10. The Independent Commission Against Corruption kicked off a campaign to promote a clean election.