Tong sees narrow path to democracy

Perhaps Executive Council member Ronny Tong Ka-wah's political think tank Path of Democracy should be congratulated for achieving "zero breakthrough" after making a passionate appeal to patriots on the Election Committee to give them nominations.

If support falls short of 10 EC members - two from each of the EC's five subcommittees - none of the four named candidates that Tong's group is fielding will be able to run in the first Legislative Council election.

This is after the formation and electoral arrangement were overhauled to bar anyone deemed non-patriotic by Beijing from running.

The struggles experienced by Tong's group were somehow unexpected.

In view of the former pan-democrat's ties with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the general view was that it should not have been so difficult for his candidates to obtain the minimum nominations needed for them to enter the contesting stage.

Yesterday, one of the Path of Democracy candidates revealed he was given enough nominations after he was advised to switch the geographical constituency to a different one. As of yesterday, the other three were still stuck in the nomination quagmire, without much luck.

Tong's group is hardly popular, particularly with those who would vote for Beijing loyalists - including the DAB, FTU and New People's Party.

Nor are they popular with others who would have been expected to support the pan-democrats had they been able to run. The group Tong leads appeals to just a small segment in the local political spectrum.

But its popularity issue should not have prevented the group from securing the minimum nominations needed. The embarrassment carries an implication that points to something more than just poor popularity.

The difficulties should have nothing to do with the central government or its representatives in the SAR as the administration and pro-Beijing heavyweights had expressed a desire to see the Democratic Party participate in the election.

Despite Tong's denial, it is absurd not to classify the Path of Democracy as pro-establishment.

What has happened is likely isolated and due to individual consideration. Admittedly, members on the EC know Tong better than the think-tank group he heads, let alone the junior members of the group - many of whom are unknown not only to the EC members but also to the public.

It was fair for former Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing to observe that the EC members would like to endorse someone they personally know rather than somebody merely referred to them by Tong, a former government critic.

The fear is that if these candidates turn out to be acting or speaking against the wish of the EC members who nominate them, the latter might be taken to task politically.

The nomination period expires on Friday. With only a few days to go, it is almost certain that lobbying will be intensified to persuade a small number of EC members to give their nominations to the remainder.

Will Tong's men and women obtain enough nominations in time? It is often said that in politics, one week is a long time.