Lee Wing-tat says new groupings are straining unity
Democratic Party chairman Lee Wing-tat believes his party and its allies will lose Legco seats in the next election in 2008.
Speaking to former legislator Allen Lee Peng-fei on TV yesterday, the party chairman said the rise of various democratic factions - including the Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats - had made it difficult for them to come up with a recognised political leader.
He said the lack of consensus over who was and should be leading the movement would result in the Democrats and their allies losing seats in the next round of Legislative Council elections.
'I am pessimistic about the pro-democracy camp's ability to secure 25 seats in the next election. I predict the Democratic Party and the pro-democracy camp as a whole will suffer. '
The Democratic Party was the biggest winner in legislative elections in 1995, 1998 and 2000 but its fortunes have dramatically in recent years - hitting an all-time low in the 2004 election.
During the last round of polls, the Democrats and their allies, who received 62 per cent of the vote in the geographical constituencies, won only 18 seats in Legco. With another seven seats in functional constituencies, their total was 25 out of a possible 60 seats.
