the democratic party suffered from the decline in popularity and intra-party struggles in recent years. in the last legco election in september, the party lost 170,000 votes compared to 1998. the young turks faction was at the edge of splitting with the party. they were discontent with the monopoly of the central committee by the party leaders and the party's position on grassroots issues. they had even organised the social democratic forum, which catered more to the grassroots interests.