DAB said to be working hard to win over FTU supporters

The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) is worried that its decision to field separate candidates in Sunday's Legislative Council (LegCo) Election may result in the trade group losing seats in LegCo. The FTU is urging its members to cast votes only for union candidates. The trade union group fears that its pro-establishment counterparts, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), are working hard to strip away the FTU's votes.

Mak Mei-kuen, the sole FTU candidate running in the geographical constituency of New Territories West (NTW), was tipped, in a tracking poll by NOW TV, to grab the ninth and the last seat in the constituency.

While the DAB sent three candidates to compete for the nine seats, straw polls indicate only its chairman Tam Yiu-chung is likely to be elected.

Ben Chan Han-ban and Leung Che-cheung trail FTU's Mak in the polls, with each drawing only 4 percent of voter support. The two DAB candidates have rarely appeared among the top nine in any of the polls.

But Mak said she is anxious about her chances after hearing that supporters have been vigorously canvassed in the last few days, by telephone callers telling them that Mak has already secured a seat.

"I was told that I am a sure-win, since I was hanging a banner for Chinese New Year," she said. "The problem for now is that some voters are concretely being told that message through phone calls. It is a critical moment and we cannot lose a single vote."

Mak declined to name the candidates that had been pursuing likely FTU voters, but went as far as to say, they were "marginal" pro-establishment candidates. Some voters were also urged to split their household votes between the DAB and the FTU.

Vowing to fight for every vote, Mak disagreed with any strategy that aims to send the highest possible number of pro-establishment candidates into the chamber. "Do they want us to fail altogether?"

The 2012 election is the first, in which the DAB and the FTU have campaigned separately. The two major pro-establishment parties are battling head-to-head for the District Council "super seats" and all but one of the geographical constituencies.

Their past collaboration, however, resulted in a divided voter base. Chan Yuen-han, who leads the pack among super seat candidates in almost every poll, has repeatedly told the media in the past week that even though her odds are good, the FTU is determined not to share its voter pool with any other party.

The fierce competition between the two pro-establishment camps is being waged in other constituencies as well. In Kowloon East, the FTU says it has lost key neighborhood leaders to other candidates. On Hong Kong Island, the FTU urged its supporters to forgo "customary" voting patterns and throw their full support behind the union group.

Cheng Yiu-tong, honorary president of the FTU, admitted on Wednesday that all the FTU candidates, except Chan, are "not very firm" about their odds of winning. He reiterated that all members must vote for the FTU because it "doesn't play any role in 'vote splitting'".

He said there was "no assessment" of the impact of the national education controversy, but he expected more FTU supporters will turn out if the heat is turned up.

Other super seat candidates are Lau Kong-wah, Lee Wai-king, Ho Chun-yan, To Kun-sun, Fung Kin-kee and Peck Wan-kam. Other NTW candidates are Chan Shu-ying, Chan Wai-yip, Mak Ip-sing, Tsang Kin-shing, Kwok Ka-ki, Tien Puk-sun, Ho Kwan-yiu, Chan Yut-wah, Leung Yiu-chung, Chan Keung, Lee Wing-tat and Lee Cheuk-yan.

kahon@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 09/06/2012 page1)