Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai says opposing C.Y. cost her votes in NPC

National People's Congress deputy Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai has admitted her outspoken stance against Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying may have cost her support, after her vote share and ranking plunged in her re-election to the Standing Committee.

Although her 2,790 votes in yesterday's election represented 95 per cent of the total, her tally was three percentage points and 106 votes lower than her showing at the last election in 2008, and her ranking plummeted from ninth to 79th among the 161 committee members.

The former Legco president had already slid to 29th in the vote for local NPC deputies in December, which she used to top.

"Many voters have friends on the mainland; maybe they didn't like what I said, so they voted against me or abstained," said Fan, who backed Leung's rival, Henry Tang Ying-yen, for chief executive.

Yesterday, 124 of 2,941 ballots went against her, while 27 abstained, compared to 42 and 10 respectively out of 2,948 in 2008.

"I think my age is one of the reasons, too," the 67-year-old said. "But I don't have the ability to try to please everybody, I can only say things I believe in."