HONG KONG The next election for Hong Kong's Legislative Council is scheduled for September 2016. The first poll for the LegCo since the Umbrella Movement protests -- a 79-day sit-in staged two years earlier by pro-democracy students and citizens -- could be a watershed in Hong Kong's fitful moves toward democratization.
"Hong Kong people are polarized into pro-establishment and pan-democratic camps. Many people want change in politics," said Tik Chi-yuen, 58, former vice president of the Democratic Party. Tik quit the party in September and is working to set up a moderate party that he says will pursue a "third way." "Pan-democrats have always been opposing the Hong Kong government and mainland China. Looking for better democracy, we should negotiate with the central government," said Tik. He plans to put up three or four candidates from the new party for the LegCo election.
