【明報專訊】How much political space the pan-democrats will still have in the future political system has attracted widespread attention. Zhang Xiaoming has stated that one cannot simply equate ''anti-China people who cause chaos in Hong Kong'' with the opposition, since there are also patriots among the pan-democrats. These people can still stand for election and be elected in accordance with the law in the future. But the pan-democrats are very pessimistic. Former chairman of the Democratic Party Lee Wing-tat estimates that the democrats may only have eight to ten seats in LegCo in the future. Ho Chun-yan, another former chairman, points out that according to the decision of the National People's Congress (NPC), candidates for future chief executive elections will have to get at least 15 nominations from each of the five sectors. If the pan-democrats want to stand in the election, they will have to solicit votes from the NPC and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meaning that democrats may not have the opportunity to nominate a candidate. If they are also required to gather nominations from each of the five sectors just to run for LegCo, they would rather refrain from running than endure such humiliation.