UpdateCY Leung likely to be re-elected Hong Kong leader for five more years if reform fails: source

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying is likely to be elected for another five-year term in 2017 if the constitutional reform fails this summer, a political heavyweight said in Beijing yesterday.

The veteran politician from Hong Kong, who spoke on condition of anonymity, believed Leung was likely to be picked again in 2017 because he had won more trust from Beijing after the Occupy Central movement.

The chief executive in 2017 will be selected by a 1,200-strong election committee if the Legislative Council votes down the political reform.

The person said that although pan-democrat lawmakers and activists had called for Leung to step down during the 79-day Occupy movement last year, “the three co-founders of Occupy Central were in fact Leung’s biggest election campaign team ... Because when Beijing said neither compromise nor bloodshed could happen, he really waited for 79 days” until the civil disobedience movement ended peacefully.

“It just showed Beijing how obedient he is,” the person added. “Beijing wouldn’t ask Leung to step down just because he’s unpopular with Hongkongers.”

The source added that if Leung was reappointed to the city's top job, he would likely reintroduce the controversial Article 23 national security law.