New Year’s Eve will mark the midpoint of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s five-year term. Even the stoutest political heart must surely blanch at another 2½ years of the present imbroglio. Although the exact timing of Lam’s departure remains uncertain, it is not too early for speculation about the next chief executive and how candidates can be identified. Normal succession practice would be to look first at the secretaries for administration, finance and justice. In our present circumstances, this is not very helpful as only one of them – Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po – has any credibility left. But even he would suffer from close association with the current administration. Casting the net a little wider brings in all members of the present Executive Council. This, too, is surely a dead end. At least three of them – Bernard Chan, Laura Cha Shih May-lung and Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee – have been mentioned in dispatches and have the intellectual capacity to take on the challenge. But these three, and the rest, are tarred with the brush of having failed to steer the good ship Hong Kong away from the iceberg of extradition. Ip also still carries the stigma – arguably unfairly – of the national security brouhaha of 2003. And so to media speculation about other possible candidates. Former candidate Henry Tang Ying-yen’s name has been floated by The Financial Times , which claimed he might take over no later than March 2020 to serve the balance of Lam’s term. An interesting possibility for the man who, in 2012, achieved the rare distinction of losing an election widely believed to have been rigged in his favour. Another name to make the headlines is former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, who lost to Lam last time. Someone holding American nationality when first recruited to the administration may not be most likely to get the nod in a trade war. Hong Kong needs a new leader and a new start. Let it be John Tsang Finally, there has been speculation about another finance man and FT nominee, Norman Chan Tak-lam, who stepped down from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority earlier this year. He has not been in the political mainstream during the past decade – though that may work in his favour – and is not really perceived as having the common touch, either. One possible candidate not to get much attention is former secretary for justice Wong Yan-lung. He would be an outstanding choice but is unlikely to be interested. Even if he could be lured back into the administration, there is a more pressing need for him to restore his old department’s reputation. But let us look at the situation from another angle. A number of controversial issues lay untouched: a clear timetable towards universal suffrage; a proper response to the overwhelming demand for a comprehensive statutory commission of inquiry; steering the police force back to being Asia’s finest; healing the damage to social cohesion in the community; handling Article 23 legislation, which surely cannot be delayed much longer; and, the return, as one day we must, to the sensitive topic of extradition. In short, we need a doer with the total confidence of Beijing (so they don’t waste time trying to second-guess the capital’s position) but fully steeped in local sentiments, with their finger on the pulse of the Hong Kong community. Someone who could with confidence argue for Hong Kong’s corner. Let the people talk – directly to the Hong Kong government and Beijing Here, there are two outstanding names: Jasper Tsang Yok-sing and Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai. Tsang was born on the mainland, came to Hong Kong aged two and was educated at St Paul’s College and the University of Hong Kong. He is a committed Marxist and a founder member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. As the second president of the Legislative Council, from 2008-16, he gained a reputation as fair and accommodating. He was one of the intermediaries admitted to Polytechnic University when it was under siege. Tsang showed an interest in running for chief executive in both 2012 and 2017 but ultimately did not stand . Fan was also born on the mainland before coming to Hong Kong. She was educated at St Stephen’s Girls College and HKU. Under the British administration, she was appointed to both Legco and Exco. After Chris Patten became governor, Fan moved closer to mainland authorities and became president of the provisional Legco meeting in Shenzhen from January 1997. Legco must put its house in order She was the first president of Legco proper, from 1998-2008, and a member of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee until last year. Her rapid switch from British to Chinese loyalties was once controversial, but her image softened after three personal episodes. In 2001 she was diagnosed with cancer and, to fight it, had a mastectomy. In 2004, she was widowed when her husband of 30 years passed away. And she donated one of her own kidneys to save her daughter’s life. Fan was elected to Legco in a geographic constituency. In 2011, she made inquiries about standing for chief executive the following year but was persuaded to leave the way clear for Henry Tang. Our first four chief executives have been two administrators, one businessman and one professional. We desperately need a politician to address the political problems around us. Here are two prime examples of experienced candidates, either of whom should be acceptable to Beijing. We could even kill two birds with one stone by bringing forward universal suffrage to early 2020. Let Hong Kong people choose between them. That is “one country, two systems”. Mike Rowse is the CEO of Treloar Enterprises