Nominations begin for District Council polls
Dozens of major political party members put in their bids to run in the revamped District Council polls, as the two-week nomination period begins on Tuesday.   Flanked by their party leaders, those from the DAB, Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) and Business and Professionals Alliance (BPA) went to different constituencies to submit their nominations for the race on December 10.  DAB chairman Gary Chan said his party's hopefuls have all spent good time serving in their respective communities.  FTU head Kingsley Wong, meanwhile, described his party members as the “best of the best” who are not only young and energetic, but also experienced in serving the community.  Priscilla Leung from the BPA, for her part, called on Hongkongers to cast their ballots to fulfill their civic responsibility, adding that she won’t use the voter turnout rate to determine whether the new electoral system is successful.  Home affairs minister Alice Mak also said the turnout rate is affected by various factors, such as the weather and social atmosphere. "When the society's harmonious, people tend to think that many problems have already been resolved and that may affect their desire to vote," she told reporters.  The revamped polls will see the percentage of directly-elected seats reduced from more than 90 percent to less than 20 percent, as well as the return of appointed seats.  A candidate-vetting process will also be introduced.