DAB To Field 18 Candidates In Legco Elections

The DAB announced on Friday that it will field 18 candidates in the Legco elections in December.

At a press briefing, party chairwoman Starry Lee said 10 members will be vying for seats in the geographical constituencies, four in the functional constituencies, and four will attempt to secure seats chosen by the Election Committee.

Incumbent DAB lawmakers Ann Chiang, Wong Ting-Kwong, Wilson Or and Leung Che-cheung will not seek re-election.

Lee said Beijing has not chosen the party's candidates, and the DAB came up with its list after internal negotiations.

She dismissed suggestions that there will be limited competition in the polls, now the electoral system has been changed to ensure only patriots hold public office.

“Within patriots we have different ideas, we have different policy advocacies. There’s still very keen competition, you can see and you can feel that, right? There are a lot of reports in different media saying in certain districts there are three or even four candidates,” she said.

But Lee cautioned people not to compare the turnout in December with Legco polls in the past.

“I don’t think we can directly compare to the past because really this is a different system. I would like to invite all voters to come out and cast their votes, to choose [their] representatives.”