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Chief executive election 2017
Hong KongPolitics

Update | John Tsang, Woo Kwok-hing reach magic 150 nominations in Hong Kong chief executive race

Ex-finance chief first to submit his nominations while ex-judge exceeds 150 with pan-democrat backing; Carrie Lam to make her move later this week

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John Tsang beams on arrival at the electoral office with his nominations. Photo: Edward Wong
Joyce Ng
Hong Kong’s leadership election is set to be a three-horse race as two underdogs have secured enough support to get an entry ticket, with one of them, former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, formally submitting his bid on Saturday.
Tsang and retired judge Woo Kwok-hing will join Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, seen as Beijing’s preferred choice, to compete for the top job on March 26.
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Critics say Tsang, who enjoys higher support in opinion polls, has only a slim chance of winning as he secured little backing from the pro-establishment camp, bagging just 10 of his 160 nominees from that sector.

An aspirant needs 150 nominations from the 1,194-member Election Committee to qualify, and at least 601 votes to win.

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Tsang, who almost lost his footing on the way to the electoral office on Saturday, declined to give a breakdown of his supporters from the pan-democrat and pro-government camps.

“All along I don’t want to draw a line like this because it would further divide Hong Kong,” Tsang said. “That’s not desirable.”

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