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Former Hong Kong leader CY Leung refuses to back down on chief executive election row, even after renewed resistance from Carrie Lam
- Continuing a week-long back-and-forth, incumbent leader Lam has again disputed Leung’s assertion that the chief executive can be legally selected without a vote or amending the law
- But Leung, in an exclusive interview with the Post, still refuses to concede the point, warning going ahead with the usual vote ‘could cause a lot of problems’
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Former Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying has refused to back down over his suggestion that the city’s next leader could be selected without going through the usual electoral process, even as he faces resistance from within his own camp.
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In an exclusive interview with the Post just hours after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor publicly dismissed the option for the second time, Leung maintained that Article 45 of the Basic Law allowed for the city’s leader to be selected via consultation rather than an election, with no need for legal changes.
Leung – now a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, China’s top political advisory body – also elaborated for the first time on why lingering uncertainties cast the outcome of next year’s leadership race in doubt, even with broad powers to disqualify candidates and the Beijing-imposed national security law at officials’ disposal.
“We should take note of the stipulations of the Basic Law,” he said. “We cannot ignore the possibility of consultation, the central government’s substantive authority of appointment, and Hong Kong’s actual situation, where serious changes have emerged in the last one or two years.”
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“With the current situation, there’s a case for not going forward [with the vote] … as it could cause a lot of problems,” he added.
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