DAB chairwoman Starry Lee says Exco resignation will let party work on Hong Kong’s problems ‘more clearly and neutrally’
Once more refuting claims that she quit to prepare for chief executive race, lawmaker lists upcoming Legco elections and heavy workload among reasons for departure
Starry Lee Wai-king has said her walkout on the Executive Council will help her party give its take on the city’s problems “more clearly and neutrally”.
The chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said as much on the same day Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said it would be a “good thing” for the city to have a female chief executive.
Lee said she resigned to plan for the Legislative Council elections in September. Those elections are expected to feature intense rivalry between, and within, political camps.
Amid voters’ calls for fresh faces in city politics, the DAB is launching its first ever internal primary in the party’s history today, to find a young successor for lawmaker Ip Kwok-him, who will retire in the summer.
Lee, 42, revealed on Thursday that she had quit Exco. Ip promptly filled her vacated seat.
READ MORE: Starry Lee, the cautious accountant battling to impose her authority
Some asked if Lee was abandoning Leung Chun-ying’s administration amid political and social turmoil.
But speaking on RTHK on Friday morning, Lee said she was not distancing herself from Leung. She said: “Our party has its own views on the many acute and deep-rooted social conflicts, and we hope to make those proposals known more clearly.
“If the party’s chairwoman is not an executive councillor, residents will find her more neutral when she explains the party’s manifesto.”
She dismissed the suggestion she resigned to plan for a bid in next year’s chief executive election. She said it was the Legco election that was on her mind.
In last month’s New Territories East by-election, the pro-Beijing camp failed to make headway as DAB vice-chairman Holden Chow Ho-ding and fellow pro-establishment candidate Christine Fong Kwok-shan were defeated, mustering only 183,753 votes between them –13,136 fewer than the camp’s total in the 2012 polls.
READ MORE: Starry Lee looks to put DAB in poll position with Executive Council resignation
The party’s younger members called for a more democratic way to decide the candidate for September, rather than having outgoing lawmakers pick successors.
A five-day internal poll will pick the candidate for the District Council (First) functional constituency, currently held by Ip.
The four contestants are Chan Hok-fung, Edward Lau Kwok-fan, Vincent Cheng Wing-shun and Kin Hung Kam-in, all in their 30s.
DAB vice-chairman Brave Chan Yung said they wanted “to build a system for producing talents”, while Lau said the system “will make the choice of candidate more convincing”.
Tsang said it would be a “good thing” for the city to have a female leader. He said: “In the past two days, people have been asking Starry Lee Wai-king if she will run for chief executive. Hong Kong has not had a female chief executive yet and it’s not a bad idea to have one. It’s a good thing.”
Additional reporting by Phila Siu