I do not know if lobbying by Beijing is illegal, Hong Kong chief executive hopeful Carrie Lam says
Former chief secretary refuses to ask Beijing’s local representatives to stop canvassing for her
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the presumed front runner in the race for Hong Kong’s top job, refused to publicly ask Beijing’s local representatives to stop canvassing support for her, adding she was “not legally trained” to judge if their action was constitutional.
“This election is not entirely fair for me,” she lamented. “I have many labels like CY2.0 and anointment by Beijing.”
Asked if that amounted to contravention of Article 22 of the Basic Law – which bars the central government from interfering in affairs within Hong Kong’s autonomy – the former chief secretary said: “I am not a legally trained person … In fact [Article] 22 is more a constitutional principle rather than a piece of very rigid legislation that requires compliance or whatever.”
Speaking on an online programme hosted by former Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing, Lam refused repeatedly to directly demand Beijing stop galvanising support for her.
“If you want me to tell others not to participate [in electioneering] or influence others or recommend anyone, fine, but everyone has to say it, and it should not be limited to any single institution,” she said, adding that she believed Hongkongers wanted to see the candidates competing through their own efforts and manifestos.
But when asked why so many pro-Beijing nominators were behind her before she announced her manifesto, she said it was more important to focus on candidates’ track record of delivering policies, adding that a manifesto “is just a promise, whether it can or cannot be delivered”.
Lam insisted she was personally running her campaign. “I didn’t just sit back or relied only on social media,” she said.
Despite the apparent strong support behind Lam from pro-establishment voters, Tsang on Friday remained “very optimistic” that he could secure nominations from at least 150 members of the 1,194-strong Election Committee.
The association claimed on Thursday that its 194 representatives on the committee – which will select the city’s next leader on March 26 – would back Lam. But core association member Henry Tang Ying-yen admitted it would be hard to get all 194 to vote as a bloc.
Tsang said: “Many Election Committee members have different leanings. I absolutely respect their choices.”
“I remain very optimistic about securing enough nominations to enter the next stage,” he said.
After bagging the necessary nominations, a candidate will need more than 600 votes to become the city’s leader.
Party chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king said she agreed with Woo’s slogan that Hong Kong should be put “back on the right track”. But the party had not decided who to nominate, she said.
