Leadership hopefuls should avoid taking the populist path
As they reach out for support during the nomination period, they should ditch sectoral platitudes in favour of coherent and well articulated policies
Given the ballot for the chief executive race is confined to just 1,194 people from four sectors subdivided into dozens of subsectors, contestants are inevitably under pressure to make piecemeal promises in return for their nominations and ultimately their votes on March 26. That the winner should preferably be someone popular means there is temptation to appease the public with high-sounding goals and policies.
But instead of running on populist platforms or turning themselves into a wishing tree loaded with sectoral-based demands, they should try to balance different interests and hammer out directions and policies that suit Hong Kong’s needs. This is what is expected of a leader.
Now that Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has also released part of her campaign platform, the Election Committee and the public are in a better position to judge who would make for a better leader. The former chief secretary pledged to spend more on education, cut taxes for small firms and boost housing supply. She is facing pressure to address other policy areas, such as political reform and welfare protection.