Thousands of people marched through Hong Kong yesterday calling for more democracy and criticising a ?small circle? election next week to pick the territory?s next leader. The Beijing-backed incumbent, Donald Tsang, is the odds-on favourite when a 796-member panel meets to choose the next Chief Executive on March 25 in a secret ballot, with the former British colony?s seven million people having no direct say. Democratic camp challenger Alan Leong, of the newly formed Civic Party, marched near the front of the procession.He has almost no chance of winning, although his presence on the ballot was a first for Hong Kong. Police and other observers along the route estimated the number of protesters at anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000. China has ruled out direct elections for Hong Kong in the near future but territory?s post-handover constitution, says this remains the ultimate goal, though the ambiguity of a timetable has proved divisive. The introduction of universal suffrage has been a central topic in the campaign and Leong has sought to nail down a commitment from Tsang to advocate direct elections by the next Chief Executive election in five years. Tsang has said only that he cannot rule it out.