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Is former Hong Kong leader CY Leung making a comeback bid? Even if not, he still has the government on the back foot
- City’s former leader has become increasingly vocal about policy, suggesting he might be preparing to launch a bid to replace Carrie Lam in top job
- Leung attempting to paint himself as strong, progressive leader, experts suggest
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Former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying’s increasingly vocal stance on the city’s housing shortage and national security law has sparked speculation he plans to run for the top job again, but even if he is not, his rhetoric is putting pressure on the current administration to act.
Should Leung decide to run in the chief executive elections next March, observers and politicians also said his unpopularity with the public and some business leaders was unlikely to be an obstacle, as the city’s current leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has also been seeking to rebuild her public image after the protests in 2019.
They said regardless of whether Leung launches his own bid, or supports someone else, his proactive commentary on Lam’s policies would inevitably force the current administration to up its game, especially in areas such as safeguarding national security and solving the city’s land and housing shortage.
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“The current government must be pressured to out-compete Leung,” said Lau Siu-kai, vice-chairman of the semi-official Beijing think tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies.
“If Leung wants to be the next leader, there’s also no question that he will want to establish himself as more progressive, courageous and intelligent [on policy issues] than the current chief executive.”
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Leung Chun-ying on his proposal to build housing on country park land
Leung, a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was Hong Kong’s chief executive from 2012 to 2017.
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