All eyes on Carrie Lam: decisive Hong Kong polls outcome demands ‘drastic response, not piecemeal fence-mending’

City leader should resign, revamp cabinet or order inquiry into police handling of protests, say critics and analysts

Huge losses in pro-establishment camp ‘puts Lam at risk of back-stabbing, appeals to Beijing to sack her’

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Carrie Lam (centre), with top government officials, has been sent a clear message by voters. Photo: May Tse

Published: 11:26pm, 25 Nov 2019Updated: 1:05am, 26 Nov 2019

Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has some tough calls to make after pan-democratic candidates swept the district council elections on Sunday.

Nothing short of drastic action is needed to show that her government hears Hongkongers who voted so resoundingly for the pan-democrats. Her critics and analysts say piecemeal attempts to mend fences with the opposition will not do.

“There are many things that she can do immediately, including stepping down, reshuffling her cabinet and setting up an independent inquiry,” said Wu Chi-wai, leader of the Democratic Party, which was Sunday’s biggest winner with 91 seats.

He said Lam had set up inquiries into other issues, and there was no reason not to have one to look into allegations of police brutality during the anti-government protests now in their sixth month. That was one of the key demands of the protest movement, which helped the pan-democratic camp win so massively on Sunday.

The bloc, including independents, swept 392 of 452 district council seats, leaving the pro-establishment camp with only 60. Pan-democrats now control 17 out of 18 district councils, whereas the pro-establishment camp was previously in charge of them all.