Some aspiring candidates whose political ideals do not square entirely with Hong Kong’s pro-establishment camp are having a hard time securing nominations for the coming Legislative Council election, despite the success of four hopefuls so far.

As the two-week nomination period entered its fourth day on Tuesday, the Post learned that at least seven figures from outside the camp continued to scramble for endorsements for the December race, the first for Legco since Beijing revamped the city’s electoral system to ensure only “patriots” could hold power.

The four who have secured sufficient nominations are Mandy Tam Heung-man, a former Civic Party and People Power member, Fong Lung-fei, who identified himself as a pro-democracy independent, Tik Chi-yuen, who leads the centrist Third Side party, and Gary Wong Chi-him, an ex-member of Path of Democracy, a moderate think tank.

The Legislative Council complex.

Under the revamp, Legco hopefuls must acquire at least 10 nominations from a powerful Election Committee dominated by Beijing loyalists, with critics accusing the authorities of stifling dissent.

Those outside the camp were still trying to make sense of the lukewarm response from committee members even though the official pledge had been that the election would not be homogenous, sources said.

Some attributed the reluctance to the risks and uncertainties pro-establishment supporters faced to give their blessings to a certain candidate, only to find out later they might not fit Beijing’s requirements.

As part of the electoral overhaul, all aspirants will be vetted by the newly established Candidate Eligibility Review Committee, chaired by Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu.

“We haven’t got a single nomination yet and we haven’t a clue what happened,” said Ronny Tong Ka-wah, a government adviser and leader of Path of Democracy, which planned to send four hopefuls to the December 19 election.

“We have been meeting a lot of different groups and people and they appeared to be quite positive. But in the end, they say they need more time for consideration.”

Ronny Tong (centre) is struggling to get nominations.

Beijing has also expanded the current 70-member Legco by 20 to 90, and drastically slashed the directly elected seats from 35 to 20. Forty seats will be returned by the Election Committee with the remaining 30 to be filled by trade-based functional constituencies.

Candidates must get two nominations from each of the five Election Committee sectors, one of which is filled entirely with members of pro-Beijing national organisations.

Eleven more election hopefuls signed up on Tuesday, bringing the total to 37 since the nomination period opened on Saturday.

Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong vice-president Kenneth Fok Kai-kong signed up to run in the sports, performing arts, culture and publication functional constituency.

Four submitted bids for the seats selected by the Election Committee, including Gary Wong, a board member of semi-official Beijing think tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies.

The others were Taiwan-born Phoenix TV presenter Vie Tseng Chin-I, Law Society council member Doreen Kong Yuk-foon, and Liberal Party vice-chairman Michael Lee Chun-keung.

Tsuen Wan district councillor Adrian Lau Cheuk-yu, a public relations consultant who had indicated his interest in running, said collecting nominations was not easy.

“It’s extremely difficult to get nominations from all the sectors,” he said.

Tik Chi-yuen has secured enough nominations.

Tik, whose party hopes to send two other candidates apart from him, said the pair were also struggling to get nominations.

He said he believed Election Committee members were acting cautiously because they only had one nomination each. “Some companies and groups like would to have a meeting first before they decide,” he said.

Some wanted to play safe with nominations because of the uncertainty over whether candidates they backed would be able to pass the government-led vetting process, insiders said.

Both Tam and Fong earlier retained their district council seats after the government approved their oath of allegiance – a new requirement under the national security law – while Tik also had his candidacy to run in the Election Committee poll in September validated by the authorities.

Tik was nominated by Allan Zeman, father of the Lan Kwai Fong nightlife hub, and Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, president of the Education University of Hong Kong.

Fong Lung-fei.

“Since many of the pan-democrats decided not to run in the new Legco system, I thought it would be good to have some of the pan-democrats who are moderate and are accepting of the national security law. They should also be given a chance to run in the Legco election,” Zeman said.

But he said he would only nominate candidates who had passed the government’s test. “I wouldn’t waste my nomination,” he said.

Tam was nominated by Maggie Chan Man-ki, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress.

“Nominating friends from the pro-establishment camp with similar views would be a joyous thing to do, but I chose to exercise my nominating rights with acceptance because I believe a thorough competition could lead to the best talent,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

Fong’s nominees included the Liberal Party’s Lee and Pang Chor-fu, of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, a check by the Post found.