Well-known DJ bidding to block return of drop-out LSD lawmaker

Ten people Wednesday submitted nomination papers for the Legislative Council by-election scheduled for May 16, on the penultimate day of the two-week nomination period. The filings increased the total number of nominees to 20.

To date, all the five lawmakers from the Civic Party (CP) and the League of Social Democrats (LSD) who gave up their seats in January have submitted nomination papers in their original geographical constituencies.

The five declared their resignations were a part of their self-declared "referendum" movement to demand universal suffrage and abolition of functional constituencies as soon as possible.

A group of university students who call themselves Tertiary 2012 also submitted nominations before the Easter holiday to run in the five geographical constituencies. So the by-elections will be a contested campaign. Kowloon West is the most "crowded" constituency with six nominees so far.

Former CP legislators Tanya Chan and Alan Leong Wednesday submitted nominations to run in the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon East constituencies, respectively. At the same time, ex-lawmakers from the LSD Albert Chan and Raymond Wong signed up to contest the New Territories West and Kowloon West constituencies.

Pamela Pak, a former disc jockey and the girl friend of tourism constituency lawmaker Paul Tse, entered the running Wednesday as well. Her stated aim is to prevent Raymond Wong, noted for his disruptive behaviour and un-parliamentary language, from returning to the legislature.

A surprise nominee for Hong Kong Island is Tai Cheuk-yin, a member of the now defunct 123 Democratic Alliance, which had close ties with Taiwan before 1997.

Another person who will contest in New Territories West is Li Sai-hung, who was assistant to Leung Kwok-hung, one of the lawmakers who stepped down. He quit the LSD after a row with Albert Chan and will now go head to head with Chan in the by-elections.

Another ex-member of the LSD, Ken Cheung, is expected to challenge Raymond Wong in Kowloon West.

After submitting his nomination forms, Raymond Wong described the by-elections as a difficult battle. He said his five fellow lawmakers are not overly eager to regain their seats.

(HK Edition 04/08/2010 page1)