Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) yesterday announced that she would step down in June, ending a divisive term that saw democracy protests crushed and strict COVID-19 pandemic curbs plunge the territory into international isolation.
Ending months of speculation, Lam said that she would not seek a second term when a committee made up of the territory’s political elite chooses a new leader next month.
“I will complete my five-year term as chief executive on June 30, and officially conclude my 42-year career in government,” Lam told reporters.
Photo: Reuters
She said China’s leaders “understood and respected” her choice not to seek another term, and that she wanted to spend more time with her family.
The 64-year-old had dodged questions for months over her future, but yesterday said that she had informed Beijing of her plan to quit more than a year ago.
A career bureaucrat, Lam became Hong Kong’s first female leader in 2017, but she is on track to leave office with record-low approval ratings.
Kenneth Chan, (陳家洛), a political scientist at Hong Kong Baptist University, said that Lam had lost support across the political spectrum.
“Not merely among the pro-democracy citizens but also increasingly among the pro-Beijing camp as she has done such a terrible job with the pandemic,” he said.
Hong Kongers and businesses based in the territory have little clarity on who the next leader might be, at a time when Beijing is calling the shots more directly.
The chief executive position is selected by a 1,500-strong pro-Beijing committee, the equivalent of 0.02 percent of the territory’s 7.4 million population. Lam’s successor is to be chosen on May 8, but so far no one with a realistic prospect of being chosen has publicly thrown their hat into the ring.
Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration John Lee (李家超), who has a background in security, has been tipped by local media as the most likely contender.
Another potential candidate is Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan (陳茂波).
The new leader would take office on July 1.
The Hong Kong Democracy Council, a US-based group made up of opposition figures who fled the territory, described Lam’s administration as “disastrous.”
Lam “will just be replaced by another Chinese Communist Party puppet,” the group wrote on Twitter. “As ever, Hong Kongers want democracy.”
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