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The Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong party has put forward 14 candidates for the coming Legislative Council election, while one of its lawmakers has joined a wave of legislators opting not to seek another term, bringing the total to 28. The party announced the line-up on Monday, as 41-year-old legislator Benson Luk Hon-man revealed he had no plans to run for re-election. Luk said on Monday that the decision was made after careful consideration and discussions with fellow party colleagues and his wife. “I will continue to serve with a grateful heart in my new role, connecting various sectors to promote economic, cultural, sports and tourism development, support youth upwards mobility and contribute to the nation and Hong Kong,” he said. The new role that the outgoing lawmaker was referring to was not immediately clear. Luk, who first took office after the 2021 election, is the fifth of the party’s nine lawmakers in the current Legco to bow out. The others are outgoing Legco president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, party chairman Lo Wai-kwok, Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung and Louis Loong Hon-biu, all of whom are in their seventies. Twenty-eight legislators have already indicated they will not run in the coming election, representing nearly one-third of the city’s 89 lawmakers. The tally includes all 12 aged 70 or above. The Business and Professionals Alliance said on Monday that among its 14 candidates, eight would run for office in the city’s functional constituencies. The eight include lawmakers Kenneth Lau Ip-keung, Jimmy Ng Wing-ka and Sunny Tan. Meanwhile, Priscilla Leung Mei-fun is one of the party’s two candidates set to compete for the Election Committee constituency. The party will also field four of its district councillors to run for office in geographical constituencies for the Legco election. Andrew Leung’s decision not to run will also see two of his party colleagues vying for his former seat in the Industrial (First) constituency. The party’s two contenders are Terrence Hui Man-chun, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Toys Council, and Ray Wong Wing-wai, vice-chairman of the party’s youth committee. Party member Aaron Bok Kwok-ming, a former head of the government’s Civil Engineering Office, will run for office in the engineering functional constituency. The Liberal Party announced on Monday that its vice-chairman, Nicholas Chan Hiu-fung, would run for office in the Legal functional constituency, becoming the latest addition to the group’s five-candidate line-up. Chan, who currently serves on the National People’s Congress, pledged to fight for more development opportunities for Hong Kong, especially for its legal sector. He will run against independent candidate Virginia Lee Wing-cheung. The nomination period for the December 7 Legco election will finish on November 6. A full list of the nominated election candidates is available on the government’s dedicated website for the poll.
