A group of liberal-minded academics, some of whom co-founded the Democratic Party, are considering fielding a joint ticket in the higher education constituency contest for the Election Committee scheduled for December.
But the group may not join forces with the Democratic Party and its allies in backing Anson Chan Fang On-sang's possible bid for chief executive.
It is understood that executive councillor Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung has discussed the forthcoming election of the 800-strong committee with academics from the think-tank SynergyNet.
Those who joined the discussion included Dr Cheung Kwok-wah, assistant professor with the University of Hong Kong's faculty of education, and SynergyNet research director Ray Yep Kin-man.
A source familiar with the discussions said the academics were considering fielding a joint ticket of three or four candidates.
'We plan to run as an independent ticket beside the pro-democracy camp and the pro-government camp,' said the participant, who declined to be named.
Hung Wing-tat, a Polytechnic University academic who was returned in the subsector contest in the 2000 Election Committee poll on a joint ticket with Professor Cheung and Dr Cheung, and Ip Kin-yuen, a lecturer at the Institute of Education, are also possible candidates for joining the joint ticket led by the SynergyNet academics.