Hong Kong Occupy co-founder concedes deficiencies in ‘ThunderGo’ strategic voting scheme
Benny Tai came under fire from critics over recommendations made to back certain candidates as some high-profile lawmakers fell by the wayside
Occupy Central co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting conceded on Wednesday there were deficiencies in the operation of the “ThunderGo” plan, a strategic voting scheme blamed for contributing to the defeat of several pan-democrats in the Legislative Council elections.
Tai, a legal scholar at the University of Hong Kong, agreed the scheme should be thoroughly evaluated, adding the number of people who were willing to participate in strategic voting was “beyond his expectation”.
“I think it is not about an apology. I am sad to see some of my old friends losing their seats … but some decisions still needed to be made,” he told RTHK.
Tai floated his “ThunderGo” plan in February, calling on pan-democrats and localists to run a limited number of candidates to avoid spreading votes too thinly in the elections in a bid to grab more than half the seats in the legislature without much infighting.
He then changed his focus to advocate “strategic voting”, after parties failed to coordinate in fielding fewer candidates.