Friend-turned-foe of CY Leung set to remain Hong Kong delegate to CPPCC

A former supporter of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying is likely to get another five-year term as a delegate to the nation's top advisory body despite a scathing attack on Leung and his arrest in a corruption probe.

Lew Mon-hung, a local delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was notified by the central government's liaison office on Friday that his tenure would be renewed next month for five more years, said one source, a CPPCC delegate.

But Walter Kwok Ping-sheung, the ousted Sun Hung Kai Properties' chairman and currently a member of the CPPCC standing committee, looks likely to lose his seat.

The list of delegates from Hong Kong will be finalised by the committee, which starts a four-day meeting today.

Tung Chee-hwa, a CPPCC vice-chairman and former Hong Kong chief executive, will be named again as a delegate. This will pave the way for his re-election as a vice-chairman. It is unclear if Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who stepped down as chief executive in June, could become a vice-chairman.

Tsang's reputation has been tainted after revelations that he accepted favours from tycoons and stayed in plush hotel suites on official trips. Tung will stay on to help Beijing improve its ties with the US as chairman of the China-United States Exchange Foundation.

Lew claimed Leung lied over unauthorised extensions at his homes on The Peak, and failed to honour a promise to appoint him to the Executive Council in reward for his support during the election campaign.