Former Civic Party member Paul Zimmerman said yesterday he would back incumbent lawmaker Frederick Fung Kin-kee to help the pan-democrats win three of the five so-called super seats in next month's Legco election.
The September 9 Legislative Council poll will allow the 3.2 million permanent residents excluded from voting in the trade-based functional constituencies to select a candidate for one of five new seats to represent the functional constituency for district councils.
Five slates and two individual candidates are competing for the five super seats, including two slates fielded by the Democratic Party - headed, respectively, by party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan and James To Kun-sun.
Fung, a lawmaker from the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, is the only other candidate from the pan-democratic camp, which faces challengers including Lau Kong-wah, vice-chairman of the Beijing-loyalist Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB).
Zimmerman called on pan-democratic supporters - other than those backing the Democratic Party slates headed by Ho and To - to vote for Fung to ensure the pan-democrats win three of the five 'super seats'.
He urged pan-democrats not to cast blank votes, which he said were as good as votes for DAB candidates Starry Lee Wai-king or independent candidate Pamela Peck Wan-kam.
'A blank vote is a wasted vote. We [need every vote to make sure] Fred gets in,' he said.