On the first day of nomination for December’s Legislative Council General Election in Hong Kong, over 50 people declared they will stand for election, including dozens of incumbent lawmakers.

Among them, 26 came from the city’s biggest political party — the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, which announced its election plan.

It plans to field 13 in the geographical constituencies, five in the functional constituencies, and eight in the election committee constituency. Five of its 19 current legislators will not seek re-election.

“I hope our team can go all-out, and face competitors from our own party with an open, inclusive, and fair-minded attitude,” said Gary Chan Hak-kan, chairman of the DAB said at a rallying event on Friday.

Announcing its bid on Thursday, a day before the nomination kicked off, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (HKFTU) said it will put forward 16 candidates to run for the election, including seven incumbents.

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The federation said that the team has proposed multiple election platforms, including promoting patriotic education, establishing a collective negotiation mechanism, and allocating public rental housing units to applicants within three years.

The HKFTU election team includes four female and twelve male members, with an average age of 46.

The youngest member of the team is 35, and over 90 percent of candidates have obtained bachelor's degree or above. More than 60 percent has master or doctor's degree.

The election is of great importance, and our team members are staunch patriots from various districts and sectors, with sufficient experience in serving the community, the federation said in its statement.

Stanley Ng Chau-pei, president of the HKFTU, said that in spite of the fierce competition, the party is ready to face challenges. Healthy competition can spur better service to the public, he said.

The Liberal Party has recommended five members to stand for the election. Three out of the five are new to the legislature while the remaining two are incumbent legislators.

Leader of the Liberal Party Tommy Cheung Yu-yan said that the list of candidates was made after careful consideration. He said that the party hoped that the candidates could continue to play a role within their professional fields.

The New People’s Party is slated to unveil its plan on Saturday.

The eighth-term LegCo General election, which will return 90 lawmakers — 20 from the geographical constituencies, 30 from the functional constituencies, and 40 from the Election Committee constituency — is set to take place on Dec 7. The nomination period of the event will run until Nov 6.

As of Friday afternoon, 23 incumbent lawmakers had ditched plan3 to seek re-election, including 10 lawmakers aged 70 or above.

Contact the writer at atlasshao@chinadailyhk.com