Four Democrats yesterday admitted applying for jobs as political assistants, saying they were testing the fairness of the recruitment exercise led by chief executive-elect Leung Chun-ying.
The four, who applied without informing their party in advance, were Southern district councillors Au Nok-hin, Chai Man-hon and Lo Kin-hei, and the party chairman's assistant, Lam Ka-ka. 'We applied for political assistant posts merely to challenge and test the [recruitment] system ... but we might have been negligent in not notifying the party,' said Lo, accompanied by party lawmaker Cheung Man-kwong.
Au said: 'We will not join the government. The party's stance is that our members will not join the cabinet until universal suffrage [on the chief executive election] is in place.'
They made a public apology for their negligence but said they did not regret their move.
Au said they had acted on the initiative of an electronic media agency which had asked them late last month to apply in a bid to test if the recruitment exercise was fair. They refused to name the company.
Lo said: 'Although the trial might be in vain, it is still worth trying ... we really want to prove that [Leung] practises cronyism.'
