Civic Party lawmaker Audrey Eu Yuet-mee made a surprise about-turn yesterday when she announced she would stand in the New Territories West constituency in September's Legislative Council election.
Eu (pictured), who earlier this year signalled she would withdraw from the political front line, said she would run on the same ticket as former medical sector lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki in the constituency, but declined to say whether she would lead the slate.
'It must be in one ticket. And I would like to tell all the voters that I and the party believe that Dr Kwok would be a good choice,' Eu said.
The arrangement, she said, also took into account the party's long-term development and the need to develop young political talent. The party failed to win any seat in New Territories West in the 2008 election.
Ivan Choy Chi-keung, a political observer at Chinese University, said the move could be a strategy to boost the overall vote, giving the party a better chance of winning at least one seat in the nine-seat constituency. About 11 per cent of the total vote under the proportional representation list system can guarantee a seat.
'It's unlikely that the Civic Party will win two seats in New Territories West. I believe this is a strategy to help Kwok to win the seat,' Choy said.