It is still anybody's guess who will benefit most from the so-called district council model in the upcoming constitutional reform.
Major political parties reacted modestly to the blueprint, counting themselves out as the big winner in the new electoral game. But election experts say the devil is in the details.
The government plans to introduce 10 new seats, five each for functional and geographical constituencies, in the 2008 Legislative Council elections. All five functional seats will go to one or several constituencies chosen from the 529 district council members.
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong holds about 150 seats, about the same as the pan-democracy camp. The Liberal Party has about 30 seats. Most others have no party affiliations.
Democratic Party chairman Lee Wing-tat said they stood to lose all five new functional seats if a block vote was adopted. Under the proportional representation system, democrats are tipped to win one or two seats. 'The DAB will benefit in the short term,' he said. 'But with the growth of party politics in district councils and an increase in voter turnout, democrats will not necessarily lose out in the long run.'
Greg So Kam-leung of the DAB said the democrats looked likely to gain more. 'We will not insist on our own interest if it receives wide support from society,' he said.
