Rise could help secure candidate in chief executive poll
Traditional strongholds of the Democratic Party and its allies in the Election Committee subsectors have seen a surge in voters, latest figures for the chief executive election voter registration exercise show.
The political affiliation of the new voters is unclear, but observers warned the increase would boost the camp's chances of securing the 100 votes required to nominate its own candidate.
They said the increase might be the result of a mobilisation drive by government allies supporting Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen to run for a second term.
The provisional voter registration published by the government yesterday shows the number of electors in the higher education subsector increased by 1,355 to 6,866, a 25 per cent rise.
There was also a 10 per cent increase in the education subsector, where 6,929 new members became electors in the 78,844-strong sector. A total of 1,014 new electors joined the social welfare subsector, boosting the electorate to 11,650, a 10 per cent rise.
The three subsectors were considered strongholds of the political parties and groups that opposed former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa when he sought a second term in 2002. They also provided the bulk of support to Mr Tsang's opponents, despite failing to muster enough nominations to field a challenger.
