Election in Hong Kong
The 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election was held on 26 March 2017 for the 5th term of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (CE), the highest office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Former Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam beat former Financial Secretary John Tsang and retired judge Woo Kwok-hing, receiving 777 votes from the 1,194-member Election Committee.
The two front-runners, Lam and Tsang, emerged after incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying surprisingly announced he would not run for a second term. Both resigned from their posts in the government. Despite leading in the polls, Tsang struggled to receive nominations from the pro-Beijing electors and had to rely heavily on pro-democrats. Lam, with the PRC's Liaison Office actively lobbying for her, attracted 580 nominations, almost half in the Election Committee and only 21 votes short of winning the final election, while Tsang and Woo received 165 and 180 nominations respectively, most of which came from the pro-democracy camp which consisted of about 320 members.
As a result, Lam received 777 electoral votes, beating Tsang's 365 and Woo's 21 votes, higher than Leung's 689 votes in the last election, becoming the first female Chief Executive.
Background.
The highest government office of Hong Kong, the Chief Executive, is selected by a 1,200-member Election Committee (EC) which is divided into various subsectors and dominated by pro-Beijing politicians and tycoons. Since the terms of Article 45 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong requiring "selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures" have not been implemented, the progress to universal suffrage has been the dominant issue in Hong Kong politics since the transfer of sovereignty in 1997.
In 2004, the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) had ruled out universal suffrage in the 2012 Chief Executive election, but in 2007 ruled that the 2017 Chief Executive election "may be implemented by the method of universal suffrage". On 31 August 2014, however, the NPCSC imposed the nebulous condition that "the Chief Executive shall be a person who loves the country and loves Hong Kong" and that the process of selection of two or three candidates by an undemocratic nominating committee continue. The pan-democrats viewed the restrictive nominating process as a violation of international standards for free elections, as candidates unsupportive of the central government would likely be screened out. The "831 decision", as it was called, triggered a class boycott in Hong Kong which escalated into an unprecedented 79-day large-scale occupy movement, internationally known as the "Umbrella Revolution".
On 18 June 2015, the Legislative Council rejected the electoral reform proposal 28 votes to 8, with 33 principally pro-Beijing legislators absent in a whip failure. The selection method and procedure thus remained unchanged from that employed in 2012.
Candidates.
Withdrawn.
Other minor candidates included insurer Jenny Kan Wai-fun, Vincent Lau Chi-wing, barrister Albert Leung Sze-ho, ex-DAB member Wu Sai-chuen and Professor Yu Wing-yin.
Other potential candidates.
Individuals listed below were mentioned as potential 2017 Chief Executive candidates in at least two reliable media sources.
Pre-nomination events.
October 2016: Emergence of potential candidates.
The Chief Executive race started as early on 27 October 2016 when retired judge Woo Kwok-hing became the first candidate to declare his campaign. He launched an offensive campaign against incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, questioning his achievements during his term, while Woo was being questioned for his lack of experience in public administration.
Around the same time, New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip, a 2012 candidate who did not receive enough nominations, expressed her interest in running for the second time. She criticised a potential candidate, Financial Secretary John Tsang, for not doing much in the last decade. Tsang responded by saying that "if one can be idle at it for 10 years, [he] has quite a bit of talent." He refused to clarify if he would run, only stating that it was "heaven's secret". Leung Chun-ying, who was expected to seek a second term, also unleashed a thinly-veiled attack on Tsang, suggesting ministers should be "responsible" and focus on the upcoming policy address and budget rather than thinking about joining the race. Leung also argued, "will those pushing for the city's independence stop what they are doing? Will those insulting their own country shut up?", referring to the Legislative Council oath-taking controversy. He went on by asking "will the land and housing problems that have accumulated become easier to solve under a new leader or government? Will the cabinet continue to touch on vested interests in the property market with courage and determination, and amid difficulties, to solve the housing problems?"
November to December 2016: Pro-democrats' ABC campaign.
Professionals and activists formed a loose coalition called "Democrats 300+" hoping to snatch over 300 seats in the Election Committee Subsector elections based on the common platform of opposing Leung Chun-ying's second term, many of whom adopted the slogan "ABC" (Anyone but CY). The camp decided not to field a candidate in the election, but rather boost the chances of an alternative establishment candidate. On 9 December, two days before the election, Leung surprisingly announced he would not seek re-election, citing his daughter's ill health, which made him the first Chief Executive to serve only one term. After Leung's announcement, Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam, who previously said she would retire, expressed that she would have to reconsider running for Chief Executive in order to continue Leung's policies.
Despite Leung's announcement, the pro-democrats still managed to win record 325 out of 1,200 seats in the Election Committee election, more than a quarter of seats with a surge of the turnout nearly 20 percentage points higher than that in the last committee election in 2011. After the election, the two potential candidates, John Tsang and Regina Ip, resigned from their Financial Secretary and Executive Councillor posts on 12 and 15 December respectively, being expected to run.
On 14 December, Woo Kwok-hing became the first one to unveil his electoral platform under the slogan of "Good Heart, Right Path, Bright Future for Hong Kong". He proposed to expand the electorate base for choosing the Election Committee from the current 250,000 to one million in 2022, rising to three million by 2032 and eventually quasi-universal suffrage. His attendees included Andy Ho On-tat, former information coordinator during the Donald Tsang administration from 2006 to 2012.
Regina Ip received the New People's Party's endorsement on 14 December and resigned from the Executive Council on the next day. She announced her candidacy on 15 December under the campaign slogan "Win Back Hong Kong", the same one used in her 2016 Legislative Council campaign. She called for a relaunch of the electoral reform process under Beijing's restrictive framework as decreed by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) on 31 August 2014. She also pledged to enact controversial Basic Law Article 23 with "suitable measures". Her campaign launching rally was attended by former colonial Chief Secretary Sir David Akers-Jones and businessman Allan Zeman as special advisers to Ip's campaign office.
In late December, Wang Guangya, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), laid out four basic criteria for the next Chief Executive in an interview with a pro-Beijing magazine: loves China, loves Hong Kong, who Beijing can trust, and capable of governing and supported by the Hong Kong people, in that order.
Mid January 2017: Carrie Lam and John Tsang enter the race.
On 12 January 2017, Carrie Lam resigned from her Chief Secretary post (having at some point previously renounced her British citizenship, which would have excluded her from running) and announced her plan to run for Chief Executive if her resignation was approved. In a closed-door meeting, she laid out an eight-point "achievable new vision" for Hong Kong and told participants that God had called on her to run. On 16 January, the two Secretaries' resignations were simultaneously approved by the central government. Some pro-Beijing politicians saw this as a sign that Lam was the central government's favoured candidate, as Tsang had resigned a full month before Lam. Lam officially declared her candidacy on the same day, promising good governance with greater transparency and "new blood" in her cabinet, at a press conference in which she was joined by Executive Councillor Bernard Chan, director of her campaign office. The chairman's council of her campaign office included prominent figures, former Hong Kong Stock Exchange chairman Ronald Arculli among them.
As Lam declared her candidacy and Tsang was expected to run, political analysts observed that Regina Ip's chances of getting the minimum 150 nominations were reduced. Ip revealed that two or three electors, including Allan Zeman, had turned their backs on her to support Lam. A teary-eyed Ip told a media gathering on 17 January, "[i]n the past ten years I started from nothing, working hard bit by bit, splashing out my own money, putting in much mental and physical effort. Can you say I had not taken on responsibilities for Hong Kong society? When I handled Article 23, I did not perform satisfactorily?" Ip's remarks came after Leung Chun-ying praised Lam for her "ability and willingness to take on responsibility".
John Tsang officially declared his candidacy on 19 January with a slogan of "Trust, Unity, Hope", after more than a month-long delay in the acceptance of his resignation by the central government, which put his campaign in limbo. To contrast himself with Lam, who was perceived to follow Leung Chun-ying's hardline and divisive policies, Tsang described himself as a good listener accepting of different views. He appealed to "all 7.35 million Hongkongers so that together we can make Hong Kong a better place." Retired senior civil servant former Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service Rebecca Lai Ko Wing-yee and former Permanent Secretary for Food and Health Sandra Lee Suk-yee became director and officer of Tsang's campaign office respectively, despite a number of his supporters switching to Lam's camp amid reports suggesting he failed to get endorsement from Beijing. Tsang also launched his election Facebook page, which drew more than 100,000 likes in a day.
In a closed-door meeting with senior media executives on 20 January, Lam reportedly said she decided to run to prevent the election from being won by someone not accepted by Beijing, which would cause "constitutional crisis". Woo Kwok-hing criticised Lam for using a "despicable tactic" to attack her opponents. Lam's campaign office later clarified that Lam was only making a general comment without targeting anybody in particular. She was also criticised for being out of touch with ordinary people after she appeared unfamiliar with how to use an Octopus card to pass through a turnstile in the Mass Transit Railway (MTR). A similar gaffe followed shortly thereafter when it was reported that Lam did not know convenience stores do not sell toilet paper and had to take a cab back to her former official residence to get one, which was dubbed "loo paper-gate" by English media. She was further under criticism for being ignorant after giving HK$500 to an illegal beggar who was allegedly "trafficked" from China.
Late January to early February 2017: Canvassing nominations.
After days of candidates meeting with the Election Committee members from different sectors to canvass at least 150 nominations in order to enter the race, by 27 January multiple reports speculated that Carrie Lam had already secured 300 to 400 nominations. Heung Yee Kuk and the New Territories Association of Societies (NTAS) stated that they inclined to nominate Lam. Together with pro-Beijing parties Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), and Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA), as well as Import and Export subsector and Sports and Culture sub-subsectors, Lam was estimated to grab more than 500 nominations. In contrast, despite topping the public opinion polls, John Tsang was speculated to have secured fewer than 100 nominations. Tsang stated "[t]here is no reason for me to believe that the central government does not trust me," as pro-Beijing electors felt pressured if nominate him amid the speculation that he was not Beijing's choice. Regina Ip was speculated to hold about 20 nominations from her New People's Party, while Woo Kwok-hing, who had not revealed any electors' endorsement, repeatedly said he was confident in receiving enough nominations.
Hours before Carrie Lam's large-scale election rally on 3 February, John Tsang launched a crowdfunding website. The website