Party emerges from Occupy to fight district elections

A new political group formed by Occupy movement protesters is planning to contest at least eight seats in the district council election, two of which are also targeted by the Democratic Party.

The clash is unintended, says Youngspiration's spokesman Donald Chow Sai-kit, 23, who said the group would take the democratic spirit of Occupy into the community and be independent of traditional political parties' "old ways of thinking".

Youngspiration is one of several political groups emerging from the 79-day sit-ins for universal suffrage. With 140 members already, it has started work in some neighbourhoods but will officially launch later this month.

Chow, who is studying business administration at university, said: "We want to continue the culture developed in the protest zones, where people made decisions with a bottom-up approach, rather than let a few leaders dominate."

That culture could take root in the community through forums so that residents could have an active say in local affairs, added Chow, who was involved in the now-defunct pro-democracy Secondary Students' Union.

Chow said the group was inspired by the lively "chit-chat sessions" that happened spontaneously among the crowds at the protest sites. The district council election would be a stepping stone to a harder fight to get into the Legislative Council and reinstate Hongkongers' identity and values, Chow said.

Apart from upholding freedoms and rights, localist issues will be on their agenda, like priority for Hongkongers in housing policy, promotion of the Cantonese dialect and use of traditional Chinese characters.