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LEE Wing-tat and others got acquainted with other members of the
Fifteen in these residents associations. For instance, H.W. TING was a
member of the Tsing Yi Concern Group.
Therefore, cooperation among the Fifteen actually started well
before the 1988 DB Election. As described by LEE Wing-tat, the Fifteen were
already a well-trained team by the time they ran for the election, the others
who had little training were bound to be defeated. Whether the team will
be re-elected to the District Board in next year's election is the best
indicator of residents' support for the democrats.
Any advantage over others in running for re-election?
The seats of Kwai Tsing DB next year will be increased from 26
to 28 and the number of elected members from 16 to 18.
The democrats have to secure at least 15 seats if they are to
continue their dominant role. It is revealed that among the Fifteen,
only N.K. KWOK is still not sure whether to run for re-election or not;
the other 14 members will most likely carry on with the battle.
Most of the Fifteen are confident in being re-elected. LEE Wing-tat,
on the contrary, takes a rather pessimistic view. In the 1991 Election,
their opponents would not be as inadequately prepared as they were in 1988
and so the Fifteen would not enjoy as much edge over them, he remarked.
Besides, the re-demarcation of constituencies also affects the
Fifteen to some extent. As pointed out by the Chairman of a residents
organization, the introduction of the single-seat constituencies in the
next Kwai Tsing DB election seemed to be a move directed against the
Fifteen so that their influence would be divided up. In fact, not every
one of them is equally popular.
Though there will be the restriction of single-seat constituencies,
the conservatives will not fare any better because the number of seats would be nearly doubled. A conservative Kwai Tsing DB member said it was difficult for them to identify sufficient candidates to challenge the Fifteen.
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