Successful candidate needs to balance local needs, national concerns: expert
The nomination of candidates for the coming chief executive election in Hong Kong started on Tuesday based on original procedures, after the central government's reform plan on universal suffrage was voted down in 2015.
Front-runner Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, her arch-rival John Tsang Chun-wah, former security minister Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and retired judge Woo Kwok-hing have announced to contest the election as of now, as the nomination for the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) will run until March 1, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.
While Tsang, Ip and Woo have all pledged to restart the reform of chief executive election, Lam has yet to unveil her plan on the contentious issue.
In her half manifesto released on Monday, Lam vowed to give more affordable homes, more spending on education and tax cuts for small companies, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday.
"As a hopeful, Lam has to seek a balance between the local residents' demands and the central government's concerns," Tian Feilong, a legal expert and associate professor at Beijing's Beihang University, told the Global Times.
After a reform plan proposed by the central government to elect the 2017 Hong Kong chief executive through universal suffrage was voted down by local legislators in 2015, a candidate's nomination must follow the original procedures and be subscribed by no less than 150 members of the Election Committee, a broadly representative body composed of 1,200 members from different sectors.
In a bid to bridge the huge wealth gap and improve the livelihood of middle and lower classes, which the international financial center is plagued with, her plans focus more on raising locals' living standards, Zhang Dinghuai, deputy chief of the Center for Basic Laws of Hong Kong and Macao SARs at Shenzhen University, told the Global Times.
Tian added that Lam also needs to meet the expectation of the central government that the new SAR government should restore social order, improve the livelihood of people and further integrate its economy with the mainland.
However, a chief executive candidate will "lose points" if he or she dodges political reform, another major concern of the local residents, Tian noted.
Although Tsang and Ip also belong to the establishment camp, they pointed out that they would prioritize the restart of the reform while maintaining the 2015 decision of the National People's Congress as the basis, according to the Hong Kong-based newspaper Ta Kung Pao.
Thousands of protesters, arguing that the decision would not bring "true democracy," had immediately occupied major roads in the city. The movement lasted over two months.
