A young member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong is expected to join the government as an aide to the chief executive. Sources said Gary Chan Hak-kan, a former DAB district co-ordination officer, had been picked as a special assistant to Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. Ma Ngok, a political scientist at the University of Science and Technology, said Mr Chan's appointment was a sign that the administration was no longer resistant to recruiting talent with a party background. 'But the government should set up a formal mechanism for co-opting people with political affiliations in future and should not grant such positions to individual parties,' Dr Ma said. A formal announcement of Mr Chan's appointment is likely to be made next week, along with those of public relations consultant Andy Ho On-tat as information co-ordinator and Lau Sai-leung as a Central Policy Unit adviser. Mr Chan, 29, is a member of the Commission on Youth and chairman of the Federation of New Territories Youth. He obtained a master's degree in government and public administration and was elected a Sha Tin district councillor in 1999. He failed to retain his seat in the 2003 district council poll. Mr Chan declined to comment on whether he would be appointed special assistant, a position which pays up to $77,000 a month. A spokeswoman for the Chief Executive's Office declined to comment on Mr Chan's possible appointment. A government source said the employment terms for the special assistant to the chief executive, who is not hired on civil servant contract, did not require a person with party affiliation to quit his party.
