Hong Kong ? Hong Kong’s pro-democracy politicians fared better than expected in legislative elections, a showing that could strengthen their hand in pushing for greater political freedoms in the Chinese territory, analysts said.

The opposition camp captured 23 of 60 legislative seats in Sunday’s voting, down from their previous 26, according to poll results released Monday.

Many observers had predicted a far worse beating for the opposition parties as their signature issue – democratic reform – took a back seat to concerns over wages, inflation and poverty this year. A resurgent nationalism, heightened by last month’s Beijing Olympics and a booming mainland economy, was expected to further hurt their chances.

Instead, they won enough seats to hold onto their veto power and block conservatives from redrawing Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, to Beijing’s liking.

“They showed more resilience than Beijing thought. They can still claim a mandate,” said Ma Ngok, political academic at the Chinese University in Hong Kong. “It will definitely make the government’s stance more difficult.”

After Monday’s results, many democrats were mum on reform, instead playing up the pocketbook issues that topped many voters’ agendas.