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109 nominations in for LegCo election
Hong Kong officials have received 109 nominations for the 2004 Legislative Council (LegCo) election. Six more nominations were received for five geographical constituencies (GC) and six for four functional constituencies (FC) Wednesday, the end of the two-week nomination period. The Registration and Electoral Office has received a total of 37 tickets running for the LegCo GC elections; and 72 candidates have signed up for FC elections. Eleven of them, being uncontested, have won the battle without a fight. Among the six tickets who enrolled for direct elections on the final day was former radio host Albert Cheng, who finally decided to compete in Kowloon East after several days of speculation. New Territories (NT) West is the most chaotic geographical constituency, with a total of 13 tickets vying for the eight seats. It will be most uncertain as to who will win the eighth seat. It will most likely be decided by the number of surplus votes under the current electoral system. For FC elections, the tension in the accountancy constituency is unprecedented as there are nine candidates, which include seasoned and young accountants, competing for one place. The architectural, surveying and planning constituency is another hotly-contested constituency, with six candidates vying for just one seat. Keen competition will also occur in the financial services constituency, where five candidates will be competing. The winning margins are expected to be very close since there are only 644 voters in this constituency. James Sung, principal lecturer in the School of Continuing and Professional Education at City University of Hong Kong, said political parties have become more mature in this year's elections than the elections in 2000. He said the "pan-democratic" camp has made many strategic co-ordinating efforts in deciding the final list of candidates. Meanwhile, Chen Zuo'er, deputy director of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, said in Guangzhou Wednesday that the LegCo election in September will be a democratic one that tallies with Hong Kong's constitutional development. He hopes that the 3 million Hong Kong voters as well as those running in the election will bear in mind the overall interests of the SAR and the country when exercising their democratic rights and discharging their obligations towards society. In response to the recent disputes between Commercial Radio and Cheng, Chen said the incident will not affect freedom of press in the territory. People had not worried that freedom of the press was undermined in the past, and neither should they worry about it now or in the future, Chen added. |
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