South China Morning Post
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Alex Lo
SCMP Columnist
My Take
by Alex Lo
My Take
by Alex Lo

The second coming of Leung Chun-ying

  • It’s not a prospect welcomed by everyone, but the controversial former city leader looks set to return to political office in Hong Kong
Alex Lo
Alex Lo
Why you can trust SCMP
It’s only a matter of time before former city leader Leung Chun-ying returns to the political limelight.
Once ranked the most unpopular of the four chief executives Hong Kong has had, he is now beaten by incumbent Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, thanks mostly to her disastrous handling of the 2019 unrest and subsequent endorsement of the controversial national security law.
Leung is in an enviable position. Two local top jobs now await him, both well-suited to his ambitions and talents. At 66, he is too young to retire. Judging by his latest attempt to revive a shelved government plan to build public housing on the fringes of the Tai Lam Country Park, he may be gunning for a second time as chief executive.

Whether you think the country park development idea is brilliant or idiotic, housing had been his policy centrepiece but also his singular failure as chief executive to meet demands. That he raises such a contentious plan at this time just fuels speculation.

An aerial view of Tai Lam Country Park. Photo: Martin Chan

Asked by reporters last month whether he would run for chief executive again, Leung gave an ambiguous answer, saying he was ready to take up any job that will “serve the interests of the country”.

Of course, that job can also be as the powerful convenor of the expanded Election Committee – from 1,200 members to 1,500 – for the chief executive.

In addition to screening candidates for the top job, the newly empowered committee will also clear all potential candidates to run in future Legislative Council elections as well as sending 40 of its own to Legco.

Effectively, the committee convenor gets to play not only kingmaker but also a key role in shaping the future Legco. The post requires someone at the level of a state leader.

Given their senior posts on the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, that means only Leung and Tung Chee-hwa, 83, the city’s first chief executive, meet the qualification.

Of course, Carrie Lam may decide, in spite of it all, to run for a second term. Still, Beijing, in its wisdom, may want a fresh face, assuming it can find a credible candidate – a big ‘if’.

Wouldn’t it be the ultimate cruel irony that after more than two decades of political reforms and turmoil, Hong Kong ends up with an old chief executive helping to pick another old chief executive as the new city leader?

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: The second coming of Leung Chun-ying
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