They may be the minority in Hong Kong's political structure, but the pan-democratic camp has proven to be an important player in constitutional reform.
An example of this is the role they played in the electoral reform of 2005.
Two years ago, the 25 pan-democratic legislators pulled together to block the passage of the 'district council model' initiated by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen.
As any electoral changes require a two-thirds majority in the Legislative Council - 40 out of 60 - for their passage, the democrats vetoed the reforms and maintained the status quo.
Speaking to reporters after the publication of the green paper on universal suffrage on Wednesday, top government officials were at pains to stress they did not want history to repeat itself.
An official, who did not want to be named, said he hoped the political parties had learned a lesson from 2005 and would 'drop their political posturing and not insist on 2012 or nothing'. It is clear he was referring to the pan-democratic camp.