THE EMERGENCE of banker-cum-educationalist Antony Leung Kam-chung as frontrunner to be named as the new Financial Secretary next week should come as no surprise, since he has always been seen as one of the movers and shakers of Tung Chee-hwa's administration.
In 1997, he was named by the Chief Executive to sit on his inner Cabinet, the Executive Council, and take charge of education reform, a responsibility which led to him being chosen a year later to head the Education Commission.
He has long been seen as a potential contender for Financial Secretary - but only after Mr Tung wins his expected second-term next year and forms a new team. Such a scenario would have seen Donald Tsang Yam-kuen step into the shoes of Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-sang upon her scheduled retirement in July 2002, creating a vacancy for Financial Secretary which Mr Leung could then fill.
That might have been best for the economics-trained banker. But last month's announcement of Mrs Chan's early departure, coupled with the apparent difficulty in finding anyone with a civil service background to replace Mr Tsang following his likely elevation to Chief Secretary, means Mr Leung seems set to make an earlier than expected - and potentially controversial - debut on the local political scene.
This is despite the fact that politics has never been one of his avowed goals in life. 'I don't want to go into politics,' he told the Post during an interview in early 1997. 'I hope people do not regard my decision to join Exco as a move into politics. I'm not the right character. I talk too much and say what I think. I'd be finished very quickly if I went into politics.'
Instead Mr Leung listed career, family, friends, intellectual development, health and community service as what he considered to be the six components of a balanced life.
