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Leung Chun-ying (CY Leung)
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CY Leung said there were pan-democrats who would be regarded as “patriotic” and “Hong Kong-loving” by Beijing’s standards. Photo: Felix Wong

‘Too early to say’ who will stand for chief executive in 2017, CY Leung says

It is “too early to say” who will join the nomination process for Hong Kong’s top job in 2017, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said on Tuesday.

Leung was speaking a day after the reported that, according to Basic Law Committee member Professor Albert Chen Hung-yee, three former pan-democrats who have joined the cabinet would likely be recognised by Beijing as patriots, a prerequisite for nomination and appointment as chief executive.

The chief executive said it would be too early to say this at present as the political reform consultation is ongoing. If lawmakers finally approve the plan, “it will then come to be known how the 1,200-strong [nominating committee] is composed”. Candidates can be identified afterwards, Leung added.

“I hope people who wish to serve the Hong Kong public can join in the election,” Leung said before the Executive Council meeting, which was also attended by Secretary for Housing and Transport, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, and Exco member Anna Wu Hung-yuk, the former pan-democrats named by Chen, along with environment undersecretary Christine Loh Kung-wai.

Chen meanwhile clarified that his intention was to let the public know there were pan-democrats who would be regarded as “patriotic” and “Hong Kong-loving” by Beijing’s standards, rather than tipping who would be nominated in the next chief executive election, as some reports in the Chinese-language press suggested.

On a separate development, former Law Society president Junius Ho Kwan-yiu said it was not the right time for the government to launch national security legislation under Article 23. However, he warned that a missing piece in the local law books could give rise to legal conditions where Beijing could apply its own laws if turmoil took place in Hong Kong.

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