The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) yesterday pledged full support to Donald Tsang in his bid for another term as the SAR leader for the next five years.

The pledge came yesterday after Tsang, announcing his re-election manifesto last week, met with 80 members of the party, of which 45 were also Election Committee (EC) members.

The party chairman, Ma Lik said the EC members attending yesterday's meeting had signed nomination forms for Tsang, adding that the party's remaining EC members would also support the nominations.

He said the party had positive relationship with Tsang over the past years, and hoped the Legislative Council (LegCo) would extend more support to the government in the coming five years.

Ma said the party would help Tsang in understanding public opinion.

The DAB's district offices would meet with ordinary citizens, and prepare a report to the future chief executive.

The party would also help Tsang's election office in organising community tours, and assist Tsang in meeting with citizens.

"We will help Mr Tsang to get in touch with the general public. I hope the general public can participate in the election," he said.

Ma said the tours would be organized before the election on March 25, when Tsang and Civic Party legislator Alan Leong will contest for the top job.

Ma said the CE should be patriotic to both the nation and Hong Kong, and gain the trust of both Hong Kong people and the central government.

He said the CE should focus on economic, public livelihood and creating a harmonious society.

The public are concerned about food safety, air quality and that some of the citizens have not benefited from economic recovery. "I hope the future CE can perform well in these matters," he said.

In response, Tsang said he would analyse the party's opinion.

He also praised those members of the public who had effectively expressed their concern.

He said Hong Kong's economic and social systems would be improved if the government could tackle these problems.

Tsang also expressed hope that the government would cooperate more with different political parties.

He pledged that the government would review the responsibilities of principal officials and bureaus if he was re-elected.

He said the policy secretaries would meet with citizens more frequently. Referring to the proposed expansion of the political appointment system, he said that the policy secretaries needed assistants to cope with heavy workload.

"The proposal of having deputy secretaries will be presented to LegCo for discussion. The policy secretaries will visit the districts more frequently if the proposal is supported by LegCo," he said.

Tsang also said he was willing to attend election forums after the nomination period.