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Will shift from Hong Kong politics to social activism give Occupy poster boy Joshua Wong’s Demosisto Party a new sense of purpose?

The party’s path has seemed uncertain and new leader Ivan Lam promises to steer it in a new direction, first by focusing on the brewing ‘battle’ on national security legislation

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Ivan Lam Long-yin, new chairman of Demosisto. Photo: Dickson Lee

Once the most promising political party for young Hongkongers, Demosisto is going back to its roots in social activism following a shutdown in its election paths and a change in leadership.

The group that was co-­founded by pro-democracy Occupy movement icon Joshua Wong Chi-fung quickly rose to prominence by winning a seat in the Legislative Council five months after its formation, but stumbled into uncertainty after its sole representative in the council was disqualified last year.

The new leader of the party, Ivan Lam Long-yin, admitted he had inherited a tough task from his predecessors.

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“I am not like them, who can be influential in what they have to say,” Lam said, referring to former chairman Nathan Law ­Kwun-chung and Joshua Wong, two of Demosisto’s most well-known faces and poster boys of the 2014 Occupy movement.

That said, the 23-year-old chairman promised to keep the ship afloat and steer it in a new direction.

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