Hong Kong’s biggest pro-Beijing party takes a swipe at John Tsang over his spending record

DAB leader Starry Lee edges closer to backing Carrie Lam in chief executive race

Reading Time:2 minutes

DAB chairwoman Starry Lee (centre) on Tuesday with party members (from left) Wilson Or Chong-shing, Ann Chiang Lai-wan, Elizabeth Quat, and Holden Chow Ho-ding with their aspirations for the new chief executive. Photo: Edward Wong

Published: 4:32pm, 31 Jan 2017Updated: 11:23pm, 31 Jan 2017

Hong Kong’s biggest pro-Beijing party has launched a veiled attack on a front runner in the city’s leadership race, John Tsang Chun-wah, for consistently underestimating fiscal reserves when he was financial secretary.

The comments indicate that the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB)is inching closer to supporting former chief secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, seen as Beijing’s preferred candidate in the chief executive election.

DAB chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king said on Tuesday that her party’s central committee would decide which of the four contenders to recommend to its 100-plus members on the 1,200-strong Election Committee that will pick the new leader in March after meeting the four individually in the coming week.

The meeting with Lam is scheduled for Friday, a day after her major campaign event expected to be attended by some DAB supporters.

Lee highlighted the need for the next chief executive to stop underestimating the fiscal reserves, a consistent trend during Tsang’s tenure as financial secretary that earned him criticism for being “miserly” and was interpreted as a lack of will to spend more on welfare and public services.

We hope the new chief executive could ... be ready to use the funds to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor

Starry Lee, DAB leader

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x