The political development of Hong Kong should rest on social stability and the economic success of the SAR, Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) Chairman Ma Lik said yesterday.

Ma was addressing a luncheon of the Federation of Hong Kong Guangdong Community Organizations.

Ma said that the DAB, which last week unveiled the names of 29 candidates for the Legislative Council (LegCo) elections on September 12, would announce its election platform in a campaign kick-off ceremony tomorrow.

The party is expected to announce more names next week to contend the elections.

Ma said the issue of social stability must precede that of political development.

"Maintaining social stability is always the top priority when political development is discussed. Political and constitutional reform in the city should rest on the foundation of sound economy and social stability," he told the audience.

He said his party supported enlarging the 800-member Election Committee that will elect the chief executive in 2007 and increasing the number of seats in LegCo to allow wider public participation in the course of political reform.

He added that it was unrealistic to call for universal suffrage for the election of the chief executive in 2007 and formation of the LegCo in 2008 after they were ruled out by the country's top legislature in its decision on April 26.

In the ongoing process of political reform, it would be important for the people to become more aware of their national identity, Ma said.

If not, he added, it would be possible for political leaders who were not as patriotic and loyal to the motherland to be elected.

He criticized some political parties who always opposed the government for opposition's sake.

Ma cautioned that should those parties secure a majority vote in the legislature after the September elections, it could threaten and impede the daily function of the government and damage the relationship between the central government and the legislature.

He said the DAB advocated that more mainland privately-owned enterprises be attracted to invest in the SAR under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) and planned cross-boundary transport infrastructure be built as soon as possible.

He confirmed that incumbent DAB legislators Chan Yuen-han and Chan Kam-lam would run on separate lists, a strategy he believed would enable them to win three of the five seats in the Kowloon East constituency.

Tactical voting

According to the results of an election survey released yesterday, the tactics of splitting the list - adopted by both the DAB and the "democrats" in Kowloon East - could confuse voters.

The survey, conducted by the Public Opinion Programme of the University of Hong Kong and commissioned by local think-tank Civic Exchange led by former legislator Christine Loh, shows only 15 to 20 per cent of the voters would follow calls of the parties to vote for either one of the lists.

Pollster Robert Chung said Hong Kong people would like to make their own choice.

Loh commented that local political parties were yet to be strong enough to influence voters' voting behaviour.

The survey polled about 2,000 people. Over 70 per cent indicated they would vote in the LegCo elections. Among the respondents saying they would vote, youngsters aged 18 to 29 showed the most interest.

The study also provided an analysis of the situation in Kowloon West, New Territories East and New Territories West. The general feedback from respondents reveals both the candidates' quality and their party affiliation count.

The nomination period for the LegCo elections starts today and lasts two weeks. A total of 60 legislators will be returned in the elections.

On a separate occasion, DAB Vice-Chairman Ip Kwok-him said that it would be good for the "democrats" to see for themselves the might of the country at the military parade of the Hong Kong garrison of the People's Liberation Army on August 1.

Although all legislators, including the Democratic Party (DP) members, were invited to the event, DP Chairman Yeung Sum said only six DP legislators would attend the event - namely Albert Ho, Sin Chung-kai, Cheung Man-kwong, James To, Fred Li and Yeung.

(HK Edition 07/22/2004 page2)