None of the early winners known to be affiliated with Democratic or Civic parties A record 1,107 nominees have signed up for the race to form the Election Committee that will choose the next chief executive. A total of 238 candidates in 15 constituencies are poised to become uncontested winners, as the week-long nomination closed yesterday without further challengers coming forward in their sectors. In 2000, 182 of the 905 candidates won seats in 11 sub-sectors without competition. The 106 last-minute aspirants who registered yesterday included senior counsel Alan Hoo, in the legal sector, Democrat Tik Chi-yuen, in the social welfare sector, and Canto-pop singer Alan Tam, in the performing arts sector. None of the uncontested winners in the 800-member Election Committee are known to be affiliated with the Democratic Party or Civic Party, which have been eager to sponsor Alan Leong Kah-kit to challenge Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's expected re-election bid. The Democrats and their allies have fielded about 120 hopefuls. Candidates who have declared affiliations with the Beijing-friendly Liberal Party and Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong number 66, although the number of other like-minded candidates, who haven't yet declared their affiliations, is expected to be much higher. Six religious groups submitted 63 nominations, bringing the total number of nominations received by the Electoral Affairs Commission to 1,107. But only 40 nominees of the religious sector will eventually join the Election Committee, along with 60 lawmakers and 36 National People's Congress local deputies. The contested seats will be returned on December 10 and the committee will choose the chief executive in March. The social welfare sector drew the most candidates, with 100 people vying for 40 seats. The medical sector was also competitive, with 63 aspirants fighting for 20 seats. Civic Party legislator Ronny Tong Ka-wah, who is co-ordinating the election strategy of his party and allies, said it was hoped 70 to 80 per cent of their candidates could win. He said the main strongholds would be in the legal sector, with a possible win of 12 of the 20 seats; higher education, 15 seats out of 20; education, 14 seats out of 20; and social welfare, 20 seats out of 40. 'It will be a difficult struggle for us, but if we can get up to 80 seats, then with the 20 or so votes from Legco, we can nominate Alan Leong,' Mr Tong said. But he added that pressure from Beijing would affect the candidates' chances. Medical sector lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki said doctors sympathetic with the cause for a contested chief executive race could take at least 12 seats in the 20-seat sector. Democrat Yeung Sum said the next step would be to encourage as many voters to turn out to the polls as possible. 'We can't rest assured that even if we get 100 seats everyone will vote for Alan Leong, given the all-out war Beijing is waging against us.' Political analyst Ma Ngok, of the Chinese University, said the record number of candidates was a result of active participation from the democratic camp. HOW THEY STAND Uncontested sub-sectors Seats Catering 11 Commercial I 12 Commercial II 12 Employers? Federation of Hong Kong 11 Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association 12 Finance 12 Import and export 12 Industrial I 12 Industrial II 12 Agriculture and fisheries 40 Sports 10 Performing arts 10 Publication 10 Chinese People?s Political Consultative Conference41 Heung Yee Kuk 21 Candidates? party affiliation 2000 2006 Democatic Party 7 42 Civic Party - 25 DAB (indlcuing former HK Progress Alliance 43 43 Libarl Party 6 23 Others 849 974 Total nominees 905 1,107 12 12 11 12 12 12 12 12 40 10 10 10 41 21
