Hong Kong Path of Democracy candidate faces uphill battle in Legislative Council election
Former student leader Raymond Mak switched from Kowloon West to New Territories East after group’s co-convenor pulled out for personal reasons
Thirteen years ago, Raymond Mak Ka-chun was at the forefront of a university student campaign against the government’s plan to cut education funding during an economic downturn. That movement was largely unsuccessful, as ministers implemented the plan amid strong opposition.
Now Mak, 33, is back with another difficult campaign: to win a seat in the Legislative Council election in September for his moderate think tank Path of Democracy, co-founded by former Civic Party legislator Ronny Tong Ka-wah.
In a media gathering on Thursday, the former president of the University of Hong Kong students’ union conceded that he had “an uphill battle ahead”, especially because the think tank originally wanted its co-convenor, Joseph Lau Pui-wing, to run in New Territories East, a stronghold of the pan-democrats which Tong represented for more than a decade before resigning last year.
Mak was planning to run in Kowloon West until Lau abruptly pulled out of the campaign last month, citing personal reasons. The think tank announced on July 11 that Mak would instead run in New Territories East.
Mak said he had quit his job as a business consultant, and he was not too worried about the campaign. “In the past week, Ronny [Tong] often joined me in giving out pamphlets in the constituency, and there were plenty of middle-class voters who showed support ... They dislike filibustering in Legco,” he said.