Pro-establishment lawmakers trying to avoid saying if they support Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying seeking a second term have been given a model answer by Leung himself on what to tell voters in the upcoming Legco election. The city’s top official said on Thursday that lawmakers should simply explain what the government had achieved or failed to achieve, and say whether they supported the work. This advice was given in response to a question from outgoing industrial representative Lam Tai-fai during Leung’s last question and answer session before the Legco’s current session ends on Friday. Curtain raised for Hong Kong chief executive election race next March Lam had asked how pro-establishment candidates should handle such queries, as saying “no” could offend Beijing while saying “yes” could mean losing votes. The Legco polls on September 4 will be the last showdown between the pan-democratic and pro-government camps before the chief executive election next March. Leung said: “Any candidate, whether he is pro-establishment or pan-democratic, should be pragmatic ... and [give] the facts: What did the government do in the last four years and what it has yet to achieve on housing, poverty, elderly care and environmental protection.” He went on to list actions taken by his administration, such as stamp duty measures to cool the superheated property market and a ban on mainland women giving birth in private hospitals in the city. Election pledges aside, CY Leung will be judged on whether he has put Hong Kong on the right path “If criticising and not supporting the government can win you more votes, what are you criticising us for? Are you criticising us for these things?” Leung asked. “Let the voters decide whether to support you if you support the chief executive and the government.” So far, the pro-establishment lawmakers have been reluctant to say whether they would support Leung standing at Hong Kong’s helm for another five years. When asked on Tuesday, Starry Lee Wai-king, chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said she would not answer as Leung had not announced his bid yet. At the question and answer session, the chief executive also weighed in on the relationship between the Legco polls and his own chances for re-election. “Some people said an overall defeat for the pro-establishment camp in September would be unfavourable for my re-election, while some others said the scenario would be very helpful for me. I think both arguments have their points,” he said. We did not promise Link a monopoly on supply of shopping centres, insists Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying Last month, Leung urged the Link Reit, which owns and manages nearly all public housing estate shopping malls and wet markets once belonging to the government, to serve the needs of public housing tenants, amid public concerns about grassroots retailers being priced out of the company’s wet markets and low-end shopping malls. But pan-democrat lawmaker Leung Yiu-chung had doubts about the chief executive’s sincerity. The lawmaker said that when Leung Chun-ying was in the senior management of property valuation firm DTZ in 2010, the firm helped the Link Reit acquire a shopping mall in Tseung Kwan O. “Are you just saying all this to gain public support for your re-election?” the lawmaker asked during the session. The chief executive sidestepped the question and reiterated that there was no plan to buy back the reit. “We must consider the social, economic and financial effect of a buy-back ... and I would urge the Link Reit to fulfil its social responsibility,” he said.