Hong Kong’s largest pro-Beijing party says most members back Carrie Lam in leadership race
DAB chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king also defended remarks calling out John Tsang on fiscal reserves
Lawmaker Starry Lee Wai-king, who is also the chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), made the remarks on a Commercial Radio programme on Wednesday morning, but added the party has yet to decide if all members must support the same candidate when casting their votes for the city’s next leader.
Lee defended the move by two vice-chairmen of the party – Brave Chan Yung and Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan – to openly join Lam’s campaign.
“The personal preferences of party members should be respected,” she said.
“But I, as the chairwoman, would not side with anyone’s campaign before the decision of the party’s central committee, to avoid giving an image that DAB has already endorsed a candidate.”
Lee admitted a majority of the party’s 100-plus members on the 1,194-strong Election Committee supported Lam, but they would still meet all four candidates to get to know them before backing their final choice in March.
She also expressed doubts over the suggestion that party members should nominate a candidate just to buy him or her entry into the race and expand the candidate pool for competition, while voting for a different candidate when it came down to the election.
On Wednesday, Lee refuted the suggestion that her party was attacking Tsang, stressing that he had to bear the responsibility of the miscalculation and that the party would direct such questions to him as a candidate.
Lee added she hoped that the future leader would also review local legislation to crack down on advocates of Hong Kong independence.
