ONE MAN, ONE VOTE:

Democracy's small step in Hong Kong (Keith Bradsher, January 31, 2007, International Herald Tribune)

Hong Kong is poised to hold China's first election in more than half a century that includes a democracy advocate seeking high office, as a pro-democracy politician announced Wednesday that he had obtained enough nominations to appear on the ballot to become the territory's next chief executive.

The politician, Alan Leong, acknowledged that he had no chance of beating the Beijing-backed incumbent, Donald Tsang, who is seeking re-election. Under electoral rules imposed by Beijing officials, only 796 members of an election committee, more than half of them with close ties to mainland China, will be allowed to vote.

Tsang, an able administrator who took office during the early stages of an economic upturn in 2005, is also popular with the general public. Polls consistently show that three-fifths of Hong Kong's people approve of the job that he has been doing.

"It is of course a foregone conclusion -- Donald Tsang will be elected and will hold office for another five years," Leong said. [...]

Leong, who is better known in the legal community than among the broader public, emerged as the Democratic camp's champion after two better- known candidates decided not to run: Martin Lee, the founding chairman of the Democratic Party, and Anson Chan, who was Tsang's highly popular predecessor as chief secretary, the second- highest position here.

Chan seriously considered last summer whether to run, but decided not to do so when worried Beijing officials successfully pressed Hong Kong politicians and tycoons alike not to support her.

"When the cards are stacked against you right from the start, you have to ask yourself what purpose is served" by running, she said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

Chan said that she nonetheless applauded Leong for running.

"It's a very good thing that we now have a contested election, even though it will not affect the outcome, as we all know," she said.

Albert Ho, the chairman of the Democratic Party, said that Leong would lose but that his candidacy would increase public awareness of the value of greater democracy.

Leong said that since he began campaigning for nominations three months ago, he had been asked "four or five times" by Hong Kong residents where they should go to vote for him on March 25. He had been forced to tell each of them that they did not have a vote.

"I would count these questions as an achievement in the last three months," he said.

"We want the people in Hong Kong to really feel the unfairness."