City Beat | Will Beijing ask for the impossible in Hong Kong’s chief executive election race?
With the central government giving no hint about its preference and likely contenders remaining tight-lipped, the endless speculation is no surprise
In politics, there must be a purpose to saying or not saying something.
It’s especially so when it comes to one major talking point in the city from now until early next year – as the government last week announced that the next chief executive election is scheduled for March 26, 2017. The irony is, with less than one year to go, no one so far has explicitly expressed his or her intention to run. Neither has Beijing given any hint whatsoever about its preference.
That’s why the focus is unavoidably on incumbent Leung Chun-ying as both his supporters and opponents make noises out of different considerations, but he himself is also tight-lipped on his intentions.
Beijing’s deliberate silence is believed to stem from one obvious consideration: to prevent this “who will be the next CE” question from becoming a burning election issue for the September Legislative Council polls. Just imagine: once “Will you support Leung for a second term? Who do you think can be an alternative?” become the must-ask and must-answer questions for whoever is interested in a Legco seat, the governance of this already relatively weak administration will only be further hampered.
Yet the fact that it is not practical for one to show his or her ambition for the top job without Beijing’s blessing doesn’t mean nothing can be done.
Messages from the pro-establishment side ... reveal the many difficulties and frustrations the camp is facing
The pan-democratic camp’s purpose is pretty straightforward – to get rid of Leung. Messages from the pro-establishment side seem more subtle and, to a certain extent, reveal the many difficulties and frustrations the camp is facing.