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THE Democratic Party is hopeful of regaining the Legislative Council seat covering Tuen Mun that fell into the hands of conservatives after the death of liberal Stephen Ng Ming-yum.

Regional Councillor Albert Ho Chun-yan is standing in New Territories West against Yim Tin-sang of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood and China-appointed district adviser Chan Wan-sang.

According to polls, Mr Ho leads by more than 10 percentage points. But Mr Chan has shrugged off the findings, saying they are not credible.

Citing the 1991 election when there were two seats in the constituency, Mr Chan said conservative candidate Tai Chin-wah had won despite the challenge of Democrat Zachary Wong Wai-yin. Ng won the other seat.

  Mr Wong was defeated and only entered Legco after a by-election. The vote came after Mr Tai was jailed for six months for possessing forged documents and making a false declaration about his legal credentials.

 'This shows that grassroots links can be decisive in a constituency like Tuen Mun,' Mr Chan said.

He added that Mr Ho was not good at cultivating such links.

Mr Chan said he saw Mr Yim as his main rival in the struggle for kaifong votes: 'He enjoys a very good relationship with the kaifongs and some of my potential supporters might support him.' Mr Ho, a solicitor, shifted his base from Hong Kong Island South to New Territories West after he was defeated in the 1991 Urban Council election.

He lost his 1992 by-election bid to fill the seat vacated by Ng's death, attracting 30,466 votes while the winner, pro-China Tang Siu-tong, won 33,083.

But, in the 1994 Regional Council poll, he grabbed 9,599 votes from the Tuen Mun Central constituency, defeating pro-China candidate Chan Yau-hoi.

His Democratic Party partner, Josephine Chan Shue-ying, won 5,877 votes in Tuen Mun North - the other area making up the Tuen Mun constituency.

Tuen Mun West is Mr Yim's power base, but some district board members say Mr Ho's bid will be aided by his party background.

Mr Yim admitted the Democratic Party's high profile would sway undecided voters, although awareness of political affiliations was lower in Tuen Mun than in middle-class areas.

He claimed he was more familiar with transport issues than Mr Ho.

Mr Ho was not available for comment.



Democrats hope to wrest back Tuen Mun