Four years ago this month, Tik Chi-yuen wascrisscrossingHong Kong, accumulating more than 15,000 steps daily.
The leader of the center-right party Third Side during that period was traveling to numerous non-governmental organizations to seek support for the 2021 Legislative Council (LegCo) elections. Tik, a licensed social worker, was campaigning as a representative from the social welfare field.
However, three weeks until the "patriots only" legislative elections, Tik – who secured a position in 2021 – is not going through the same efforts this time.
Tik, one of 35 current lawmakers who are not running for re-election, intended to nominate another member from the Third Side party to take his place, and he would have campaigned alongside this individual. The party had three possible candidates in consideration, the 68-year-old experienced politician mentioned.
However, none of them managed to obtain the required endorsements to contest the election.
Following Beijing'selectoral overhaul in 2021, which applies to both LegCo and District Council elections, centrist groups such as Three Side have been finding it difficult to obtain sufficient endorsements to put forward candidates.
For instance, to participate in legislative elections, candidates must secure support from at least two representatives in each of the five groups within the Election Committee, which consists of a limited group of political leaders.
The reform, implemented several months prior to the December 2021 elections, led to the absence of opposition legislators in the LegCo term from 2022 to 2025.
Tik mentioned that his party's candidates obtained nominations well below the necessary limit.
"[The people we contacted] mentioned they had already recommended others, or that they aren't really familiar with our members, so they refused to support," Tik said to HKFP in Cantonese on Monday.
A total of 161 candidates are runningin the LegCo elections on December 7. The city's largest pro-Beijing party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), has the most seats, with 26 members running.
The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) and the Business Professionals Alliance of Hong Kong (BPA) are each putting forward 16 and 14 candidates, respectively. The New People’s Party (NPP) is fielding eight representatives.
Middle-of-the-road groups
Recently, Hong Kong's political scene was characterized by the presence of pro-Beijing and pro-democracy factions.
Following the implementation of a national security law in Beijing in 2020, three of the city's most prominent pro-democracy parties — the Democratic Party, the Civic Party, and the League of Social Democrats — have either dissolved or declared their intention to disband.
The center of the political spectrum remained intact. It is home to small centrist groups and establishment-friendly organizations with more moderate views, including Third Side, the PoD Research Institute, and Roundtable.
Many were established by experienced politicians who had lost faith in their parties, believing them to be overly aligned with either pro-Beijing or pro-democracy positions.
Among the three, Third Side and Roundtable each have one representative in the legislature, whereas the PoD Research Institute has no members in the LegCo.
Third Side remained eligible to participate in the LegCo election in 2021, as the two candidates it nominated secured sufficient support to compete.
However, in the 2023 District Council elections, Third Sidefailed to gather the nominationsrequired for its two contenders.
In the 2025 LegCo elections, the party secured fewer nominations than it did two years prior, according to Tik.
We are not going to guess why we haven't received enough nominations," he stated. "However, I don't believe there is any rule or directive preventing our party's members from running.
He stated that the party would not surrender, and would continue to try to field candidates in upcoming elections.
Running as independents
This year's LegCo elections also lack the participation of the moderate think tank PoD Research Institute, previously called Path of Democracy.
It renamed itself in Septemberto prevent "misunderstanding" that it was a political organization, stated convenor Ronny Tong, who established the think tank in 2015 following his departure from the pro-democracy Civic Party, which he co-founded.
The policy institute has participated in all District Council and Legislative Council elections since its establishment in 2015.
This year, two members of the PoD Research Institute, Jeffrey Chan and Allan Wong, are participating in the race, but not under the think tank's official banner.
Chan is competing for a position in Kowloon Central, whereas Wong is contesting in the New Territories Northeast. Both have left the political affiliation section empty in their applications.
The two refused an interview offer from HKFP.
Tong refuted the claim that the two think tank members participating in the December election were prohibited from running under the group's name.
He informed HKFP that, contrary to reports from other media outlets, the think tank, being a research organization and not a political body, had never "nominated" candidates to contest in elections.
The group has never convened to talk about selecting candidates or planning campaign strategies, he mentioned. Rather, individuals decided on their own if they wished to run, and the think tank provided them with support.
The PoD Research Institute had two members contesting the LegCo elections in 2021 and one participating in the District Council elections in 2023.
But that was only a small part of what members had originally expected. As reported by local media, the group hadfive individuals keen on participatingin 2021, yet many failed to secure the necessary endorsements.
In 2023, approximately a half dozen individuals expressed interest in running.saidat the moment he thought the criteria for nominations might be eased to enable more individuals to participate in the competition.
A system where candidates pursue nominations from individuals they may not know is "less than ideal, from both the nominator's and the nominee's perspective," Tong, a member of the Executive Council, an advisory body to the government, told HKFP.
He suggested that it would be "less of an issue" if those who make nominations were more open to considering individuals they are not closely familiar with, or if there was a system in place to help nominees and nominators connect.
Of course, we want to run
Among the pro-establishment groups currently present in the Legislative Council, veteran legislator Michael Tien's Roundtable is likely the most recognized for adopting a more moderate position.
Tien established Roundtable in 2017 following his departure from the New People’s Party, citing concerns that it was growing too closely linked to Beijing.
A 75-year-old individual, who has been a member of the LegCo since 2012, recently declared that hewas not seeking re-election, along with the other 11 lawmakers in their 70s.
Tien mentioned he would "hand over the responsibility" to Mark Chong, his assistant and a fellow member of the Roundtable.
Chong, who is contesting the New Territories Northwest seat as the only candidate from Roundtable, has secured sufficient endorsements this time, following a previous failure four years ago.
That year, Tien and I were both competing for nominations, so people chose to nominate him rather than me," Chong said to HKFP. "This time, it went smoothly because we only had one candidate.
A 41-year-old stated that he felt his public profile had increased following his participation—though without success—in the 2023 District Council elections. He was able to gather sufficient support to run that year, although four other members of the Roundtable were unable to take part due to not obtaining an endorsement.
At the time, Tien toldreporters stated that the four members "knocked on the doors" of 241 individuals who had the authority to support candidates, but only 41 replied.
When asked whether he was worried that the nomination process had prevented certain candidates, such as those from Third Side, from participating in the December election, Chong stated that he hadn't focused much on their situation.
In the meantime, Tik mentioned to HKFP that he was dissatisfied with his party's absence from the voting process.
"Being a political party, naturally, we aim to participate in elections," he stated.
However, he refuted the idea that the party's absence from LegCo, as well as from the District Council, indicated that centrist groups like his were experiencing a downturn.
"I think there are different methods through which we can still have an effect on society," Tik stated.