But independents will play a bigger role in the Legislative Council, as they take up more than 40 percent of the seats – a threat for development of traditional parties, a commentator said.

With the number of LegCo seats going up from 70 to 90, DAB won six more seats than the last term. It snatched one seat in each of the 10 geographical constituencies, four in functional constituencies and five in the Election Committee constituency.

In a press conference after the election, DAB chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king said she was satisfied with the results as the party snatched 51.4 percent of the total votes in the geographical constituencies.

Despite DAB being the biggest winner, the party will definitely need to collaborate with other parties and lawmakers, she said.

“We will collaborate with different lawmakers and blocs in the legislature... in order to push the government to solve deep-rooted problems, develop the economy and fulfill citizens' expectations,” she added.

Federation of Trade Unions became the second largest party with eight seats – a double from the last term. It was followed by Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong with seven seats.

The New People’s Party, which had only two seats in the past term, successfully snatched five seats in the Sunday elections.

Liberal Party became the weakest traditional pro-establishment party, as it was only able to win four seats – identical to what it got in the 2016 Legco elections.

No single party can dominate the Legislative Council with their number of seats. To pass a government bill, a simple majority of all LegCo members present in the meeting is required.

As for bills introduced by lawmakers, they will need a simple majority from two groups of members, which is the Election Committee constituency, as well as the geographical constituencies and the functional constituencies combined.

Political commentator Derek Yuen Mi-chang said the role of political parties will become more ambiguous and awkward, which will affect their room of survival as well as their development. He said the new legislature mostly consists of representatives from the business sector and professionals. Political parties will find it hard to form an independent voice in the chamber.

“This shows that Beijing thinks public opinions should be collected from different sectors, but not through direct elections. They will increasingly do so,” Yuen said, adding that citizens will find it difficult to voice their opinion through direct elections.

Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said lawmakers will face a lot of competition if they want to seek reelection in the future.

The 90 lawmakers will be fighting for exposure in the future, and be very hardworking in monitoring the SAR government, especially in how it handles social, economic and livelihood problems in a less politicized environment, he said.