The announcement of nomination lists for the Hong Kong pro-democracy primary election has set off the election battle for the Legislative Council(LegCo) seats. As the enactment of the National Security Law for Hong Kong is already in sight, the hopefuls taking part in the upcoming primaries become more prone to being disqualified by the authority. Some have already revealed that they have a "Plan B" candidate, or even a "Plan C", to stand in for them. But the identities of the stand-ins will not be disclosed lest they be targeted by Beijing in advance. Unless Beijing declares the whole election null and void, "the pan-democratic camp will unwaveringly send in candidates no matter how many of them would be disqualified," asserted an unnamed democrat.

Both Beijing and the local pro-establishment camp have claimed that those who do not support the National Security Law are probably not eligible for the LegCo election. Some "Plan A" candidates are already expected to be disqualified. "In the worst-case scenario, not only some of them, but all on the A-list are disqualified," predicted the unnamed democrat, who has noticed that some parties in the pan-democratic camp are already preparing their "Plan B", even "Plan C". The "Plan B" and "Plan C" candidates, not recognizable personalities, are of the lower echelon in their parties. This is undeniably a flaw yet an advantage in such context because they have rarely been seen in public occasions. It will not be easy to pick on their words to disqualify them.

Although the hopefuls will have to deploy their candidate lists for the district constituencies, many of the lists in the primaries only show one single candidate without the rest of their team members on them. "With the system of proportional representation at work in Hong Kong, only those positioned highest on the lists will stand a chance. There is no need to finalize all the names on one list now," the unnamed democrat indicated. "Another concern is: "if their names are given out, isn’t it the same as getting them exposed to Beijing’s attacks?"

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