City Beat | After Hong Kong political reform vote, it's time to get some real things done

After the legislature rejected the government's 2017 universal suffrage package, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying seems to have had a change of style: from a "fighter" type to a softer approach, including towards the pan-democrats.

While the public was still trying to figure out what the voting farce was all about, Leung wasted no time that day in announcing that enough was enough. He said his administration would not consider re-launching the political reform process as suggested by the pan-democrats, at least not during the rest of his term. Instead, he said, he needed to focus on people's livelihood and economic development.

He therefore rescheduled the sequence of Finance Committee funding requests, putting items concerning welfare and benefits for the underprivileged ahead of his pet project to set up an innovation and technology bureau. His office at the same time sent out invitations to various political parties, though meetings with the pan-democratic camp were either turned down or ended in hostility as in the case of the Civic Party.

For years, the city has been torn apart by political rows. So it's natural for many that now is the time to set aside political wrangling, even though it will not be easy to achieve.

One issue that has arisen with just two years left in Leung's term as chief executive is whether he will run again. While some were surprised that Leung had opted for a more accommodating approach to try to mend ties between the executive and the legislature, he could not free himself from speculation that he did this as a warm-up for a second term.

Guesses then started on who would be his likely rivals. A recent handshake by President Xi Jinping with Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah in Beijing triggered gossip, with some saying it meant something while others warned people not to read too much into it.