A second chance for Hong Kong’s leader? Beijing loyalists speak up for Leung Chun-ying
Two Hong Kong heavyweights play down the rise of localism and say the chief executive is not to blame for current divisions in the city
Two Beijing-loyalist heavyweights dropped a strong hint yesterday that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying should be supported for a second term, even though critics blamed him for creating disharmony in Hong Kong.
Maria Tam Wai-chu, a local deputy to the National People’s Congress, and Chan Wing-kee, a Standing Committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – the nation’s top political advisory body – were speaking in the capital days after localist candidate Edward Leung Tin-kei won more than 66,000 votes in the Legislative Council by-election on Sunday.
Beijing loyalists accuse Edward Leung’s Hong Kong Indigenous of organising the Mong Kok riot last month.
Tam said: “Without a party system in our government, it will be very damaging if we change our government … and form a new cabinet every five years. Unless the chief executive commits a criminal offence, the most ideal is to let him continue with the policy he proposed.”
On whether it would be more damaging for Hong Kong to remain divided for five more years, Tam said: “It is not good for society to be divided, but is it divided because people with different views and aspirations are not willing to sit down and talk, or is a single person to blame?”
