New Territories political rising star Junius Ho Kwan-yiu will take up leadership of Tuen Mun Rural Committee next month after Heung Yee Kuk chief Lau Wong-fat was barred from seeking re-election for the post he has held for 41 years.
It is the latest challenge to the long-time kuk supremo, who in January was re-elected head of his home village amid unprecedented competition after a five-decade tenure.
Last month, the rural committee passed a motion to amend its constitution so that a chairman could serve no more than two four-year terms, effectively preventing Lau from staying in the post.
The change also means that Lau will automatically lose his seat on Tuen Mun District Council, of which he is chairman and an ex-officio member.
Ho, 48 (pictured), a vice-president of the Law Society who for the first time secured a village representative seat in the January poll without a contest, was elected unopposed as rural committee chairman yesterday.
'My first jobs after assuming the post of Tuen Mun Rural Committee chairman will be to handle the conflict between development projects and rural conservation, and to work on issues relating to indigenous residents' rights, including the rights to build small houses,' he said.
A candidate in the 2008 Legislative Council legal-sector race, the solicitor's recent emergence in the New Territories rural community has renewed speculation about his higher ambitions in the city's wider political scene. He has ruled out seeking the functional constituency seat again, but has not discounted the possibility of running in a direct election.