Protests weaken CY Leung's re-election chances: Tien

The large turnout at Tuesday’s anti-government protest will weaken Beijing’s plan to have a strong chief executive re-elected in Hong Kong’s historic 2017 poll, a leading pro-Beijing business leader said on Wednesday.

Legislator James Tien Pei-chun, of the pro-establishment Liberal Party, said the turnout deepened Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s governance crisis and weakened Beijing’s hope that the chief executive will win the 2017 poll – the city’s first direct election for the top job.

“[Beijing’s] master plan for 2017 – when Hong Kong people can directly elect the chief executive – is to have them choose someone who is preferred [by Beijing]. If [Leung] stays on, it is quite impossible for him to win a direct election” because of his integrity issues, Tien said in an interview on Commercial Radio.

“Is it possible that at some point [they] will replace [Leung] with a more capable person, who is supported and trusted by the people and the central government, who can stay on until [after] universal suffrage? I think the possibility exists.”

On Tuesday, tens of thousands of marchers participated in a series of demonstrations – mostly calling for Leung’s resignation, although several thousand rallied to support the chief executive.

In the largest demonstration, organisers said more than 130,000 people marched to demand Leung’s resignation, while police put the turnout at 26,000.