Lam wins HK leadership; activists vow opposition
HONG KONG: Carrie Lam, formerly Hong Kong’s second-highest-ranking official, was voted in to the island’s top spot on Sunday by a small circle of electors, a move that raises the spectre of further tensions between authorities and pro-democracy activists.
Lam — backed by the central government in Beijing but opposed by pro-democracy groups in the former British colony — won with 777 out of 1,163 valid votes in the council tasked with filling the position.
Outgoing Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying extended his “sincere congratulations” to Lam, who will be Hong Kong’s first female leader.
Lam, in her first remarks as chief executive-elect, attempted to set a conciliatory tone, saying that her “priority will be to heal the divide and to ease the frustration,” and that she sees her “shortcomings,” and would like to “tap the forces of our young people.” She promised an extra 5 billion Hong Kong dollars ($643.8 million) in education funding.
She added she would “attract talent widely... regardless of political affiliation,” for her team.
Despite winning more than twice the number of votes as her nearest rival among the electors, she is seen as a divisive figure among the wider population, particularly unpopular among the young. Some predict her 5-year term will be marred by political gridlock. “She will have no honeymoon,” said Alan Leong, chairman of the democratic-leaning Civic Party. “[Beijing’s support of Lam] has disappointed a lot of the middle class, a lot of professional people, a lot of intellectuals,” he said.
“She’s a nightmare for us,” said leading student activist Joshua Wong.
Wong was part of a group of about 200 protesters demonstrating as the votes were being counted, chanting: “We want universal suffrage.”
Hong Kong’s electoral system has come under criticism as unrepresentative residents.
An electoral committee - including legislators, heads of professional bodies, representatives of sectors like agriculture and fisheries, financial services, trade unions and more — chooses the city’s leader.
Although the system was set to change to introduce a public vote, many argue that the changes proposed by Beijing and the Hong Kong government do not go far enough.
Beijing’s insistence that candidates be pre-approved before a one-person, one-vote election brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets in 2014.
“Lam’s victory, despite her lack of representation and popular support, reflects the Chinese Communist Party’s complete control over Hong Kong’s electoral process and its serious intrusion of Hong Kong’s autonomy,” said legislator and fellow protester Nathan Law, in a statement released by his political party Demosisto.
The group said it would organise a protest on July 1, the day Lam will be sworn in, and the 20th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China. of its 7.3 million