Legislative Council president Tsang Yok-sing said he would not be the 'best candidate' to be Leung Chun-ying's chief secretary, saying the chief executive-elect needed someone familiar with government operations as his deputy.
Tsang said he had not been approached to take on any position in the new administration.
He also said several principal officials would not serve in the new team but Leung should urge them to stay on until he could replace them with his own people.
Leung, the former Executive Council convenor, faces doubts about whether he has the support of senior officials and civil servants because he has no experience in administration.
Echoing Leung's earlier remarks that he was likely to choose a serving official as his No2, Tsang said: 'Given his background, that he hasn't come from the government, a chief secretary recruited from within the government who knows how the machinery works would be of the greatest help.'
Incumbent Stephen Lam Sui-lung has been tipped for the job, but he is at the bottom of public popularity polls of cabinet members.
