Parties talk strategy for winning formula

Pro-establishment parties will provide name lists for the December Legislative Council elections by the end of the week after starting to map out their strategies yesterday.

The New People's Party, chaired by Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, is understood to be the first to hold a meeting to iron out the list. The meeting is also expected to deliberate on whether Ip stays on as a lawmaker after it was reported that she may give up seeking reelection to run in the chief executive race on March 27.

Ip, 71, failed to secure sufficient nominations in the 2012 and 2017 chief executive elections.

The party's meeting was held days before the nomination period for the Legco elections opens on Saturday. The election is on December 19.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, headed by Starry Lee Wai-king, postponed its meeting to Friday without giving a reason.

The Federation of Trade Unions will hold a meeting on the same day to decide on whether to recommend a certain candidate to represent the party in the election.

A veteran member from the pro-establishment camp said the new electoral system has made it complicated to coordinate as there is a newly added 40-seat Election Committee constituency and all candidates must be nominated by EC members.

"This might be one of the reasons why Beijing has yet to decide on the name list that it will bless," the member said.

"I believe relevant persons are working hard to balance the interest of various stakeholders, including within the community, different sectors and political parties. There has yet to be a conclusion."

He said centrist party Third Side's intention to run means that it might already have received Beijing's blessings.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said she has instructed the Electoral Affairs Commission to improve arrangements on polling day to avoid the problems seen during last month's EC election.

"During the Election Committee subsector elections in September, there were failures at each procedure. The commission submitted a detailed investigation report last Friday and promised to improve in many aspects," Lam said.

"I will require the EAC ... to make sure the problems will not happen during the Legco election."

Lam also urged those who have aspirations to run in the Legco election as the expanded 90-seat Legco will provide more opportunities for people to participate in politics.

However, Lam did not comment on reports in a local newspaper saying that Xia Baolong, director of Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, went to Shenzhen to sort out election arrangements for the Legco election.

Lam said what Beijing cares most is whether there will be problems when implementing the new electoral system imposed by China on Hong Kong in March this year.

Meanwhile, Legco's Finance Committee chairman Chan Kin-por claimed the committee was more efficient without lawmakers filibustering. He said it only went through 48 meetings, totaling 127 hours, to approve 120 funding requests from the government, which is the highest in a legislative year within this term of office.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com