People power will remain the key driving force in the fight for universal suffrage by 2007 despite the recent 'discouraging remarks' by mainland legal experts, say pro-democracy activists. Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, of the Civil Human Rights Front which organised the July 1 and January 1 protests in which more than 500,000 and 100,000 took part respectively, said strong popular demand would be the only way to make Beijing listen. 'Whether we have direct elections in 2007 and 2008 will only be decided by people power. It doesn't matter what discouraging remarks the guardians make about democratic progress, the people still hold the decisive power,' he said. Xiao Weiyun and Xia Yong, two mainland legal experts known as 'guardians' of the Basic Law, poured cold water on heated demands to speed up the pace of democratic reform when they visited last week. Professor Xiao suggested that Hong Kong should not have universal suffrage until 2047. Mr Tsoi said: 'The strategy for us in the coming months would be to raise awareness among the public about the issue and encourage intense discussions. Organising another demonstration will be considered but we cannot demonstrate every day.' A series of seminars and publicity campaigns would be launched, he said. Mr Tsoi, who failed to win a Legislative Council seat in 2000, said he was considering not running this year to devote more time to the campaign at the community level. Meanwhile, another campaign urging people to register as voters is being organised, to maximise the chances of the pro-democracy camp getting up to half of the 60 seats in the Legco elections. Father Louis Ha Ke-loon, of the Democratic Development Network, said: 'With enough votes in Legco, we can make change happen.'