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A long, hard road to woo the middle class

Chris Yeung

Former DAB chairman Tsang Yok-sing meant it when he said last week a 'shock-therapy' approach would be adopted to rebuild the party after the district council elections debacle.

On Tuesday, its standing committee surprised pundits by voting unanimously for Ma Lik, a maverick Tung critic, to succeed Mr Tsang as the party braces for a life-and-death battle in the next Legislative Council election.

By opting for Mr Ma, the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong sought to convince sceptics of its determination and appetite for real change - not just through a new public face, but with a fresh approach and thinking.

This is because the leadership realises that any half-hearted changes will lead the party nowhere. With the turnout for the September Legco polls set to reach a record high, the DAB's party-building efforts over the past 11 years could become futile and its role marginalised if it manages to win only one seat each in the five geographical constituencies.

The first and foremost task for the party, therefore, was to dump its pro-government baggage and define its role as fair-minded critic of government failures.

Given the widespread discontent within the pro-Beijing circle with the government, the risk of losing the so-called 'iron votes' from its loyal supporters will be small. Meanwhile, a moderate-critical stance may appeal to some middle-class people who find the democrats too radical, confrontational or simply unpalatable.

A shift towards middle-class interests is easier said than done, however. The DAB has been closely connected with the left-wing Federation of Trade Unions and traditional patriotic groups in districts such as clan associations.

A sharp divide exists between the pro-Beijing camp and the middle class over ideological and cultural issues such as democracy, civil liberties and labour rights.

Now that Beijing has waded into the quagmire of the democracy debate, whoever is at the helm of the DAB will be caught between a rock and a hard place trying to speak for Hongkongers without antagonising central authorities.

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