Opinion | It's not Leung, it's the system

All this talk about the central government having a reserve plan to replace the unpopular Leung Chun-ying makes me want to say this: it's the system, stupid, not the chief executive. Changing the chief executive would change nothing. Hong Kong would still lurch from one political crisis to another. The Occupy Central movement would still march on.

That's because whoever Beijing chooses to replace Leung would still be labelled a puppet. So it's not the chief executive that needs changing, it's the system.

Besides, who would Beijing choose? Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, whose family prefers to reside in Britain? That would make scandalous fodder for her foes. She is as despised as Leung by those in the so-called Henry Tang Ying-yen camp who accused her of double standards in handling Tang's and Leung's illegal structures.

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, perhaps? She has not hidden her ambition to become chief executive. But wouldn't Beijing be inviting even more trouble by choosing someone who was detested for being the prime promoter of the much-hated Article 23 national security legislation?

Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing toyed with standing for election last year. But the trouble with Tsang is that he refuses to confirm or deny if he is, or was, a member of China's communist party.

Maybe Beijing has a secret candidate in mind. But you can be sure it wouldn't take long for people to dig out the skeletons in his or her cupboard, as they did with Tang's basement and extramarital affairs and Leung's illegal structures. They are now tumbling out of Barry Cheung Chun-yuen's cupboard. The truth is that Hong Kong doesn't have anyone charismatic enough to win hearts and minds across the political spectrum, let alone someone anointed by Beijing.