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Chief executive election 2017
Hong KongPolitics

Business leader Allan Zeman backs Carrie Lam in Hong Kong leadership contest

Election Committee member says he supports ‘people who can make things happen in Hong Kong’

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Allan Zeman dismissed Carrie Lam’s critics as “those who criticise everything”. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Oliver Chou,Nikki SunandNg Kang-chung
Business leader Allan Zeman has thrown his support behind Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor for the city’s leadership race, saying Beijing’s reservations about Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah running were reflected by the time it was taking to approve his resignation.

Zeman, who is also a member of the Election Committee that will pick Hong Kong’s next leader in March, said on Tuesday his backing for Lam was based on his experience working with her at the West Kowloon arts hub for the past six years.

Allan Zeman said Carrie Lam was “capable of doing things”. Photo: Edward Wong
Allan Zeman said Carrie Lam was “capable of doing things”. Photo: Edward Wong
He described the chief secretary as “capable of doing things”.
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Zeman, who stepped down as a West Kowloon Cultural District Authority member last October, added: “My idea is to have can-do people, who can make things happen in Hong Kong,”

The city could not afford to “stand still”, he warned. “Just look at what happens to the Palace Museum. If there’s no Carrie, they might not have the Palace Museum.”

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Zeman said Lam had “made the best management decision for the benefit of Hong Kong”, despite the backlash over her handling of the project.

Many opponents were just “those who criticise everything” and “every single thing that has to do with the government”, he said.

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