DAB tactics face tough test in polls
The looming district council elections are a 'huge test' for the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, which is negotiating with the Liberals to maximise seats for Beijing loyalists, says DAB chairman Ma Lik.
Mr Ma, speaking on a RTHK handover anniversary programme, said this approach did not mean the DAB would simply give seats to the Liberal Party.
'A fair way of achieving this is to put forward the candidates through negotiation,' he said. 'For example, if there are two candidates who intend to stand for a district, then the best thing to do is to conduct an opinion poll before deciding who should stand.
He said the party had established a closer relationship with the government since 2004, so the elections later this year would serve as a test on whether the public recognised the approach the party had taken and if its district work had succeeded in winning over voters.
'In the past, there were many district councillors who were returned uncontested. But under the new situation, various political parties now understand that to win seats at the district council elections would form a foundation for the Legislative Council election,' said Mr Ma.
He declined to elaborate on his denial that a massacre occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989. His comments sparked outrage two weeks before the anniversary of the June 4 crackdown. Asked to explain his remarks, he said: 'It's very hard to make any clarification on this.'
Mr Ma said that before the handover, the colonial government and former governor Chris Patten had suppressed leftists.
The situation had improved in the past decade although it did not happen overnight, he said, adding that Hong Kong people now displayed greater acceptance of the left wing.
The public's views of the DAB and the central government had also changed since the handover, said the head of the largest party in Hong Kong, which has 10,177 members.
