Pan-democrat split deepens as lawmaker Ronny Tong forms new platform for moderates

The divide among Hong Kong’s pan-democrats widened further today as lawmaker Ronny Tong Ka-wah announced he is preparing to form a new political platform of 30 moderate pan-dems that he hopes will contest future elections.

Tong, widely considered a dissident in the pan-democrats’ camp, said the 30 moderates would include friends, academics and young people. They would meet for the first time on Sunday.

He told DBC radio this morning that he would seek to formally establish the platform this summer, and hoped some members could run in future Legislative Council elections.

Tong, a Civic Party member, declined to comment if they include any other lawmakers, or give details on their identity and professions. He also refused to say if he would leave the Civic Party so he could establish the new group.

He said seeking genuine universal suffrage in Hong Kong and safeguarding the “one country, two systems” principle were the group’s main values.

As for now, however, its focus was beyond the current debate on reform for the 2017 chief executive elections and would rather be on the way forward for Hong Kong, he said.