The League of Social Democrats set out to confront the political establishment, but now there's confrontation within its own ranks.
So serious is the rivalry between factions loyal to party founder Wong Yuk-man and his protege Andrew To Kwan-hang that it threatens the party's status as the radical wing of the pan-democratic camp, one observer says.
The cause of the dispute is co-operation between moderate pan-democrats and Beijing to ensure gradual electoral reform in 2012. Wong and his supporters say the league should no longer participate in a carve-up of electoral constituencies with other parties to ensure that pan-democratic candidates do not stand against each other.
'I am 100 per cent against staying in the mechanism because we should not sit together with someone who negotiates with the Communist Party behind the scenes,' said Wong, who stepped down as party chairman early this year.
The league, under the new leadership of To and secretary general Gavin Kwai Sze-kit, decided two months ago to continue the carve-up provided the Democratic Party and the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood make clear whether they intend to continue dialogue with Beijing over Hong Kong's democratisation.
The split between the factions has widened in recent days, to the point where the former chairman is threatening to quit the party.