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Jimmy Cheung

Rising political stars and long-time rivals will be locked in a battle that could redraw the boundary between the democratic and pro-Beijing camps in Kowloon East.

Interest has intensified with an extra seat up for grabs and the withdrawal of Democratic Party heavyweight Szeto Wah.

Prominent barrister Alan Leong Kah-kit  is taking to the hustings for the first time in an area that is a mixture of low-income and middle-class households.

Democrat Fred Li Wah-ming  and his running mate Wu Chi-wai  have formed their own list, while Andrew To Kwan-hang  of The Frontier is mounting a solo campaign.

A similar split strategy is being adopted by the left-wing Federation of Trade Unions and the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong.

Incumbent legislator Chan Yuen-han  is expected to team up with Lam Man-fai,  while Chan Kam-lam  is understood to be running with Choi Chun-wa,  one of the federation's  vice-chairmen.

In the 2000 elections, the pro-government camp defeated the democrats  for the first time, with 108,587 votes to 103,863, although the two camps each secured two seats.

To curb losses after Mr Szeto's  departure, Mr Leong  was 'assigned' to Kowloon East by the pan-democratic camp instead of his original preference, Hong Kong Island.

According to the Democrats' estimate, Mr Li,  Mr Wu  and Mr Leong  will defeat the pro-government camp if they can  keep Mr Leong's  share of the vote to no more than 13 per cent, while pushing the Democratic Party to grab  33 per cent, effectively knocking out Mr Chan.

But recent opinion polls  found the barrister's support had reached 17 per cent,  while the Democrats had managed only 25 per cent.

Mr Leong  said yesterday the two teams would decide in a month  whether to adopt  tactics to spread out the vote.

'It's too early to say. If we were to trust the results of opinion polls, does that mean I can stop now and do nothing further? Certainly not.'

Mr Leong believed  tactics would not be necessary if his rating stayed at 17 per cent.

'If the difference is only 3 to 4 per cent, I don't think there is a need to do so,' he said.

Ms  Chan,  on the other hand, is safely heading towards  victory with Mr Lam  at a level of 33 per cent, according to the poll.

Mr Chan  has about 10 per cent support even without the help of his running mate at present and stands a better chance than Mr Wu  of winning the remaining seat.

Mr Chan  conceded his campaign had been buoyed by Mr Choi's  participation and denied his team would draw away Ms Chan's  votes. 'I think our sources of votes are different,' he said.

Mr Wu  has sought to play down the risk he faces.

'It's still early days. Our electioneering machinery is not yet in full swing. I am confident that our support will rise,' he said.

Asked if he believed Mr Leong's  switch to the democrats' base had done more harm than good to the camp, Mr Wu replied: 'I would not comment now. Now that he has come, I welcome that and we'll make the best of the effects he will bring.'

The election also sees the chairman of the Small and Medium Enterprises Association, Shi Kai-biu,  making a comeback.

Despite polling only 9,800 votes last time, the motor parts manufacturer is confident of winning 30,000 votes this time.

He has positioned himself as the only voice for small and medium enterprises.



Old and the new draw battle lines