With outspoken members such as Leung Kwok-hung and Raymond Wong Yuk-man, the League of Social Democrats has been the fiercest critic of the 'small-circle election', refusing even to support the candidacy of pan-democrat contender Alan Leong Kah-kit. But in 2005, one of its founding members, Albert Chan Wai-yip, then an independent, nominated Donald Tsang Yam-kuen ahead of the Democratic candidate, Lee Wing-tat. Despite the party's stance of boycotting the election in protest against the system, Mr Chan sees no contradiction in his actions, citing the different context in 2005. And rather than regret the move, Mr Chan maintains his nomination was partly effective. 'At the time, [an election was needed] because Tung Chee-hwa had to step down. And so there was a mood where we thought, 'Maybe the central government will heed the call for reform',' said Mr Chan, referring to the belief that Mr Tung was forced out by public discontent, rather than for health reasons. 'When I nominated Mr Tsang, I requested that he address the wealth gap and the lack of public facilities in new towns. Regarding the latter, there has been an improvement, and I feel that was because of my nomination.' Mr Chan emphasised that at the time, even among pan-democrats, people were far more optimistic about Mr Tsang as chief executive. 'Citizens came up to me and said, 'Mr Tung has gone now, the future is bright', and urged me to support the next leader,' he said. 'Also, I was the one leading the way to force Mr Tung to step down. So if I did not support the next leader, it would look like I was opposing for the sake of opposing.' However, Mr Chan said he was disappointed with Mr Tsang's efforts on the widening wealth gap. 'Also, in terms of long-term vision and democratic reform, he has shown to be lacking.' As for his refusal to nominate Mr Lee, Mr Chan said that came down to character. 'Had it been Audrey Eu Yuet-mee or Emily Lau Wai-hing or Martin Lee Chu-ming, I probably would have nominated them. 'This year, I am no longer an independent lawmaker and I have to follow the party stance, which I also heartily agree with. No participation, no nomination, no vote, so as not to lend legitimacy to the small-circle election.'
