Beijing has been working behind the scenes to ensure that “patriots” contesting the coming Legislative Council election will not win by walkovers, as the city’s opposition parties are staying out, the Post has learned. Sources said Beijing’s liaison office in the city had been coordinating key aspects of the election on December 19, including approving potential candidates. However, other sources – including one familiar with Beijing’s views – indicated it had also urged the pro-establishment camp to be proactive in mapping out its plans and producing compelling manifestos and proposals to win over the public. With the overhaul of the city’s electoral system, the legislature has been expanded from 70 to 90 seats and split into three groups – 40 members will come from the powerful Election Committee, 30 from functional constituencies for mainly trade-based groups, and only 20 will be directly elected members from geographical constituencies. Beijing has given its blessings for about 50 members of the Election Committee to contest the 40 seats set aside for it, to allow a limited contest, sources said. Similarly, veteran lawmakers from the functional constituencies who previously won without a contest said they had been told to “find someone” to run against them this time and avoid walkovers. But another source familiar with Beijing’s thinking said the veterans were hesitant in their planning and appeared reluctant to take the initiative. “Beijing actually wants the pro-establishment camp to be more proactive, to go to the public and win its support. It has been telling the camp, this is Hong Kong’s election, you need to do your ground work, do not rely only on the liaison office,” the source said. At the geographical constituencies, the electoral reform saw the number of representatives slashed from 35 previously to just 20 who will come from 10 constituencies. Sources expect three to five candidates for the two seats in each constituency. At least one is expected from Hong Kong’s middle-of-the-road parties and the rest from traditional pro-establishment parties. “To heat up the election atmosphere and increase incentives for voters to cast ballots, Beijing will not allow walkovers in most seats in this race,” said an insider familiar with the plans. “The level of coordination has been very micro. Mainland officials also have a say on who some tycoons and prominent figures will nominate.” The two-week nomination period kicks off on Saturday, but is expected to start on an unusually quiet note. Flatlining number of voters hints at Hongkongers’ apathy, politicians say The source said the liaison office “needs more time” to assess the situation before approving the line-up of candidates as well as the nomination lists to be made public later. Under Beijing’s overhaul of the electoral system, all candidates for the Legco poll must secure the endorsement of at least 10 members of the Election Committee – two from each of its five sectors. A new vetting committee will also screen all hopefuls to ensure they are sufficiently “patriotic” to run. The geographical constituencies used to be hotly contested in previous elections. This year, however, all opposition parties responded to Beijing’s changes by choosing to skip the election for the first time in decades. In September’s poll for 1,500 members of the Election Committee, which was enlarged from 1,200 and given new powers, 75 per cent of the seats were won without a contest. Multiple sources said Beijing had worked to ensure that the Legco election would see a contest in the geographical constituencies between candidates from major pro-establishment parties and emerging centrists. The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), the largest pro-Beijing party with 13 seats in the current Legco, is fielding 18 candidates for all three groups of Legco seats. Its 10 hopefuls in the geographical constituencies include six incumbents and former district councillors Chan Hok-fung and Stanley Li Sai-wing. Announcing the list on Friday, party chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king, who will run in Kowloon Central, admitted that the party had communicated with Beijing’s liaison office about its choices. “Some of our members had meetings with the liaison office, sought help from them and heard their views … The final list was endorsed by our central committee,” she said. There are more than 4 million registered voters in the city. Asked whether a lower turnout was likely, given the absence of opposition candidates, Lee cautioned against comparing with the last election as there had been significant changes to the system. The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) is contesting nine seats, with president Stanley Ng Chau-pei, incumbent Bill Tang Ka-piu and former district councillor Joephy Chan Wing-yan among its candidates. Incumbent Kwok Wai-keung will join Dennis Leung Tsz-wing to contest in the labour functional constituency. The New People’s Party, led by veteran lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, planned to field at least three candidates for geographical constituency seats, an insider said, with Ip likely to seek re-election in Hong Kong Island West. No banners, no noise as election for Hong Kong’s legislature approaches Two self-described “middle-of-the-road” groups, Third Side, headed by the only non-pro-establishment Election Committee member Tik Chi-yuen, and Path of Democracy, headed by executive councillor Ronny Tong Ka-wah, have announced an electoral pact to field candidates for direct seats. The race in the Legco’s 30-seat functional constituencies will also be unlike any in the past. Although most incumbents have been allowed to stay for another term – including all six members of the pro-business Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) and four from the Liberal Party – one told the Post that the liaison office asked him to “plan some degree of competition”. One veteran lawmaker said a mainland Chinese official told him: “Find a competitor by yourself to run against you, or we will get one for you.” The incumbent said he would invite a younger industry player to stand against him. Hong Kong authorities fail to strike deal on new polling stations across border The largest group in the new Legco will be the 40 members sent by the Election Committee. Sources said Beijing would want about 50 people in this race, including veteran direct-elected lawmakers Elizabeth Quat from the DAB, Alice Mak Mei-kuen from the FTU and Priscilla Leung Mei-fun from the BPA. One veteran incumbent, in his late 60s, said he was “relieved” when the liaison office told him recently that he could step down. “I was told earlier that Beijing needed time to assess whether I should stay to lead the newcomers to discharge their Legco duties. I had no choice,” he said, asking to remain anonymous. Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of Beijing’s semi-official think tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said Beijing’s “carefully curated” competition would encourage candidates to connect with the public, and avoid excessive political heat. “Even if they have Beijing’s blessings, they can’t be too lazy. They know that Big Brother is closely monitoring their performance,” Lau said. “With the limited competition, they can now focus their efforts on addressing people’s needs, instead of arguing over politics with the opposition as we’ve seen in previous elections.” Chinese University political scientist Ma Ngok said it appeared that candidates would only step forward after receiving Beijing’s “solid blessings” and the Legco poll seemed to be more “coordination” than an election. He did not have high hopes for the centrists throwing their hats into the ring, saying: “Most are not known to the public, and what they are advocating is less likely to attract pro-democracy supporters. “I don’t see a high chance of them winning any direct seats, but I believe this is part of the coordination as well.”