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Alice Wu

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu swore in the new Legislative Council on January 1 without issue, even though a few lawmakers had to redo their oaths. And the first order of business for them is to elect the council president in a vote expected on January 8.
Whether Lee’s message to Legco members – calling on them to be “representatives of the public”, and to prioritise the interests of the nation and Hong Kong over personal political gain and glory – is heard and how they interpret his words will be revealed then.
That’s because at the heart of who they choose as president is how they see their roles as lawmakers and whether they put the city and national interests above personal gain.
There are two candidates for the job, both veteran lawmakers: Starry Lee Wai-king and Ronick Chan Chun-ying. Lee has been a Legco member since 2008 and Chan, since 2016. The two come from drastically different backgrounds.
Lee began her political career at 25 when she was elected to the Kowloon City District Council in 1999. She remained a member of the district council until 2023, while also serving as a member of Legco and the Executive Council (2012-2016), and leading the city’s largest political party as its first female chairperson for over eight years (2015-2023). In 2016, she became the chair of the Legco House Committee, taking over from Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, who became Legco president.
Chan first entered politics in 2016, when he ran uncontested for the finance functional constituency. He has since been part of the G19, a group in Legco made up mainly of independent lawmakers from the economic and financial sectors, working together to study, propose and advocate policies.

There’s little doubt they both have the ability to bring the legislature together. Lee has run a political party. Chan has been part of a group that works independently while creating synergies that fit the common purpose.
Lee hails from a predominantly community-based background; Chan, from the business community. How our lawmakers weigh their backgrounds and their electoral mandate will show how they see the role of the legislature and what it represents.
Questions have been raised over Lee’s work as Hong Kong’s sole delegate in the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, a position she has held since March 2023. The main question is whether that position would affect her work of presiding over Legco if elected. Lee has said it wouldn’t.
If Lee were elected, she would not be the first NPC Standing Committee member to also be serving as Legco president. The first Legco president, Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, served as an NPC Standing Committee member towards the end of her tenure. So a sitting NPC Standing Committee member leading Legco is certainly not unprecedented and in theory, if it didn’t affect Fan’s work, it shouldn’t affect Lee’s either.
But here’s what lawmakers must consider: the role Lee would have in terms of fulfilling the chief executive’s wish for – or expectation of – the city’s lawmaking body to “see the bigger picture, have a national perspective and maintain an international outlook”. Would her work as an NPC Standing Committee member help Legco in that regard?

But perhaps the more interesting question would be: how would it “look” and be interpreted if a veteran lawmaker, who is also an NPC Standing Committee member – for which the support and approval of Beijing is implicit – does not get enough votes from the legislature to lead it? Would that be a factor in lawmakers’ considerations?
Given her background as former chair of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), which has 20 members in Legco, how will Lee’s political affiliation influence lawmakers’ choices and votes? This will go to the heart of whether they feel Lee can preside over them without prejudice or favour. Lee is also widely regarded as the protege of Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, a former Legco president, and how the new lawmakers view Tsang’s tenure may play a role in their decision.
Whatever the outcome, we will see the first glimpse of how the council will collaborate as a political entity. Power will probably not centre on any single party. If the DAB gets the president’s seat, then we would expect it to have made concessions for the seats of other panel heads. The vote will be the result of intricate and sophisticated political balancing work.


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Opinion

Hong Kong Opinion

News

Hong Kong

Politics

How legislators vote will show how they see their roles and whether they prioritise national and city interests above personal political gain


How legislators vote will show how they see their roles and whether they prioritise national and city interests above personal political gain.


Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco)

Hong Kong Legislative Council election 2025

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong

John Lee

Hong Kong society

Executive Council of Hong Kong

Banking & finance

Ronick Chan Chun-ying

National People's Congress (NPC)

Starry Lee Wai-king

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Starry Lee or Ronick Chan? Lawmakers’ choice will reveal their priorities

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}How legislators vote will show how they see their roles and whether they prioritise national and city interests above personal political gain

How legislators vote will show how they see their roles and whether they prioritise national and city interests above personal political gain