‘Democrats unlikely to be accepted for Legco polls’

A leader of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese said on Monday that it would be almost impossible for members of the Democratic Party to stand in Legco elections.

Lo Man-tuen said members of the party are unlikely to get through the nomination stage for candidates, because of the party’s “opposition” to the new electoral system.

In a Ming Pao article, Lo said the party has set a high threshold for backing any individual members who wish to run in December’s polls and by doing this it has rejected the electoral system and therefore the Basic Law.

“The Democratic Party must review its platform, respect the Communist Party-led state system, not act against national security to meet the minimum requirements of the principle of ‘patriots ruling Hong Kong’. This is the only way it could hope to be reborn,” he said.

The Democratic Party said last month that any members who are interested in joining the Legco race would need to secure 40 nominations from the party.