Hong Kong ex-leader CY Leung says city can’t expect chief executive to enjoy powers granted by Beijing, yet disregard state’s role in choosing candidate
- Now a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Leung reiterates no election for the leadership role is even necessary
- The CPPCC and National People’s Congress are expected to scrutinise planned shake-up of city’s electoral system at March 4 plenary session
Former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying has warned that residents cannot expect the city’s chief executive to enjoy the high degree of autonomy granted by the central government, yet disregard Beijing’s role in selecting a candidate, pointing out that “we cannot have our cake and eat it”.
Releasing an eight-minute video on pro-establishment website Speak Out HK, Leung said people had to remember that it was Beijing, not Hongkongers, that established the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and granted the city leader powers that went beyond those of mayors in foreign countries.
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‘We cannot have our cake and eat it’, says former Hong Kong leader CY Leung
He added that even the British could not grant their local governments such a high degree of autonomy via local elections. “If Hong Kong residents want to emulate their London counterparts … in voting for their city leader, Beijing could happily agree tomorrow, provided the Hong Kong chief executive has the same limited powers as the London mayor,” he argued.
“So we, as the people of Hong Kong, cannot have our cake and eat it too, casting Beijing to one side in the process of selecting the chief executive but at the same time, insisting on giving the chief executive much greater powers than those of the London mayor.”
The speech by Leung, now a vice-chairman of the country’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), came as he was set to travel to Beijing on Saturday to attend the plenary session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the CPPCC.
In his video, Leung also said he wanted to explain the framework of the system as the former secretary general of the Basic Law Consultative Committee.
Sources previously told the Post that apart from endorsing China’s next five-year plan, the NPC and the CPPCC would scrutinise Beijing’s move to shake up the city’s electoral systems by implementing the “patriots governing Hong Kong” principle.
