Kowloon West lawmaker-elect Priscilla Leung Mei-fun (second right) celebrates with her party colleagues after winning a seat in the Legislative Council election during a press conference of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong at Admiralty on Monday. Parker Zheng / China Daily

Pro-establishment parties say the voters responded to their hard work

Local political leaders say they hope the newly elected lawmakers can meet voters' expectations and work for the common good of Hong Kong's residents.

All 12 candidate lists from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) who competed in the election have secured their seats.

DAB Chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king said she was satisfied with the overall results in what was "baton-passing" Legislative Council election.

Lee and DAB's Vice-Chairman Holden Chow Ho-ding won two seats out of five in the intense District Council (Second) constituency, or "super seat" contest.

Lee said she was delighted to see more votes had been secured than in the 2012 LegCo election. However, she admitted it was hard for the pro-establishment camp to take three "super seats".

"The result encourages us to work harder to win more support in future," Lee said.

As more young candidates are elected into LegCo, Lee said she hoped they can join efforts to stop filibusters and help Hong Kong people fulfill their aspirations.

Also getting "strikes" (all wins) are the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) and the New People's Party (NPP).

The BPA deployed seven candidate lists, and NPP dispatched three. All the lists have won seats.

Reelected in the Industrial (First) constituency, BPA lawmaker Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen said results for the pro-business party, formed in 2012, was better than expected. Leung said it showed that many people supported the party's core principles.

He says all BPA candidates are well-established professionals and the party welcomes more young people.

Winning the second-highest number of votes in the Kowloon West constituency, BPA's Priscilla Leung Mei-fun said each vote had been earned by hard work. She will try hard to carry out the promises she made to the voters. Opposing filibustering and separatism, Leung hopes cooperation can be achieved among different parties so the city can move forward.

NPP Chairwoman Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee felt her party's success was a reward for their past services to society. With their young rising star, Barrister Eunice Yung Hoi-yan, 39, managed to enter the LegCo via election in the New Territories East, Ip said one of the party's priorities now is to guide Yung into the new role.

Among those who felt upset by the results was convener of local think tank Path of Democracy, Ronny Tong Ka-wah. Both of his proteges - Gary Wong Chi-him in Hong Kong Island and Raymond Mak Ka-chun in New Territories East - had lost by a big margin.

Tong voiced concern over the polarization of politics in the city. He said more radical politicians had emerged and traditional "pan-democrats" had manipulated vote allocation tactics. Moreover, moderates were feeling marginalized, added Tong.

The outcome was unexpected for Tong, as it seemed to show voters did not identify with moderate political ideas. This may create the false impression that radicals and extremists are tolerated in the city.

Tong believes future LegCo operations may become more difficult and executive-legislature relationships may deteriorate.

Contact the writers at luisliu@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 09/06/2016 page10)