Chief executive hopeful John Tsang wins first significant nominations from Hong Kong pan-democrats
Front runner Carrie Lam receives en bloc support from Heung Yee Kuk, while Woo Kwok-hing makes emergency plea for support after getting just three nominations
As the formal nomination process for the chief executive election opened on Tuesday, John Tsang Chun-wah finally got his first significant support from pan-democrats, while front runner Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor received yet another boost from the rural affairs body, the Heung Yee Kuk.
Another candidate, Woo Kwok-hing, meanwhile, is making an emergency call, saying he had only received three nominations so far.
Watch: John Tsang unveils his election manifesto
A chief executive aspirant needs 150 nominations to qualify and more than 600 votes to win in the poll on March 26. Once one gathers 150 forms, he or she can submit them to the electoral office to ask to be accepted as a formal candidate.
Tsang, former financial secretary, won 24 nominations from the accountancy subsector in the 1,194-strong Election Committee.
With Beijing’s liaison office actively lobbying for his arch-rival Lam, Tsang has been struggling to seek support from the pro-establishment camp and is expected to be heavily reliant on the pan-democrats, who dominate the committee’s professional subsectors and have enough votes to send two candidates into the race.
Lam’s nominations are estimated to have reached 300 to 400.