Lam makes veiled dig at predecessor in unity call
HONG KONG: Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s new leader, distanced herself from her predecessor’s fraught relationship with the territory’s lawmakers, vowing better communication as she sought to break years of political deadlock.
Five days after becoming the city’s first female chief executive, Ms Lam went before the Legislative Council yesterday promising more frequent meetings with lawmakers. Hong Kong’s former No. 2 said her government would lobby the chamber’s 70 democratically elected members directly to ensure their concerns were heard.
“I am a bit saddened seeing the internal conflicts and scuffles in the past few years,” Ms Lam said in a rare public critique of her ally and former boss, Leung Chun-ying. “Seeing the poor administrative-legislative relationship and the lack of trust between officials and lawmakers slow down the speed of policy implementation, I am concerned, but not disheartened.”
Her olive branch to lawmakers came after Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over her July 1 inauguration on the former British colony’s 20th anniversary of Chinese rule. The speech to the Legislative Council represented her most substantive attempt to differentiate herself from the unpopular Mr Leung, whose five-year term was marred by street protests and the emergence of an independence movement.
A one-time colonial civil servant who was preparing to retire before Mr Leung decided not to seek a second term, Ms Lam, 60, has pledged to focus on healing political divides. China’s support helped her win an election by a committee of 1,200 political and business elites dominated by Beijing loyalists.