Editorial | Election delay lets Hong Kong focus on bigger battle
- Leadership race is rightly put on hold while turning back the growing tide of coronavirus victims remains a priority
Nothing is more pressing for Hong Kong than bringing the latest coronavirus outbreak under control. As the city struggles to get to grips with the deepening crisis, it is only right to postpone the election of the city’s leader.
This will, hopefully, enable the authorities and the community to focus on curbing the spread.
The decision to delay the chief executive race from March 27 to May 8 came two days after President Xi Jinping made fighting the virus an “overriding priority” for the special administrative region. It was announced by Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor following a special meeting of her cabinet on Friday.
However, when asked about the issue earlier this month, Lam remained adamant that the nomination process and ballot could still go ahead as arranged.
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Hong Kong Chief Executive election delayed until May as city considers universal Covid-19 testing
Regardless of who made the final call, it would be unthinkable for Beijing not to be involved in the process. But, instead of asking the state legislature to weigh in with a ruling on the leadership contest, the decision was made by invoking powers under the controversial Emergency Regulations Ordinance, which was also used to delay the Legislative Council polls in 2020.