Challenger to focus on democracy - his perceived strongpoint Chief executive election challenger Alan Leong Kah-kit will submit his nomination form on Wednesday, when the nomination period starts, and shift his campaign strategy to focus on democracy. Mr Leong announced his platform on political development yesterday, seeking to expand membership of the Election Committee by about 400, who would be elected by the public. He also proposes lowering the threshold of nominators from 100 to 50 - making it easier to take part in the leadership poll - and scrapping the functional constituency elections. He said he would seek to amend the Basic Law after universal suffrage was achieved, as a nomination committee was not needed. He also said the chief executive should select and appoint most of his ministers from the elected representatives in Legco. To do so, Article 79 of the Basic Law should be amended. While his campaign team has vowed to continue lobbying Election Committee members for the March 25 poll, strategists said there was a need to highlight Mr Leong's platform on universal suffrage as it was his strongest edge over incumbent Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. In view of Mr Tsang's move to woo Mr Leong's supporters who have already signed up for his nomination to change their minds, the Civic Party legislator has decided to submit his form on the first day of the two-week nomination period. 'We will submit the form on Wednesday and go full steam in lobbying for votes among Election Committee members. In terms of the battle for public support, democracy is the key issue,' a source in the Leong camp said. While the number of Mr Leong's nominations now stands at more than the 113 he received on January 31, his supporters believe handing in the form early can avoid possible desertions and means he will become the first formal candidate in the election. Mr Tsang appears to be concentrating his efforts on the 796-strong Election Committee, where he met members of different sectors in the past week. Despite coming up with detailed platforms on the economy, the environment and other areas, Mr Leong has been criticised for being unable to deliver, as he has virtually no chance of winning. Democrat Lee Wing-tat said his ally's election strategy would focus more on democracy, as the campaign had entered a new stage. On top of yesterday's platform on democracy - billed as a remedy for social and economic problems identified earlier in Mr Leong's platform - a series of district-based activities to attract public support are planned, climaxing in a pro-democracy demonstration on March 18.
