HONG KONG - Chief Executive Carrie Lam has announced that the upcoming leadership election in the territory will be postponed till early May.
The chief executive race, in which 1,462 Election Committee members pick Hong Kong’s next leader, will be postponed for six weeks to May 8. It was originally scheduled to be held on March 27.
The nomination period will now start from April 3 to April 16, instead of from Feb 20 to March 5.
“In order to protect the health of the Hong Kong people, the government should focus all resources to fight the epidemic. We cannot afford to be distracted and we cannot afford to make mistakes,” Mrs Lam said on Friday evening (Feb 18).
In a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s calls for the Hong Kong government to prioritise fighting the coronavirus, Mrs Lam noted that doing so was “in line with the important instruction of President Xi”.
She noted that because of the current tightened social distancing measures, in which only public gatherings of not more than two people are allowed, candidates would be unable to canvass or explain their manifestos.
“So, to a certain extent, this would undermine the openness, fairness and transparency of the election,” said Mrs Lam, who has refused to disclose if she would run again.
The decision on the election was made at a special meeting of the Executive Council, which approved the postponement under article 2(1) of the Emergency Regulations Ordinance.
Once regulated, the decision will take effect and be introduced to the Legislative Council (Legco).
In July 2020, during the third wave of the pandemic, the government had invoked the law to postpone the Legco election by a year. It was originally slated to take place on Sept 6, 2020.
In deciding on the new date, Mrs Lam said she had to take into account the government’s plan to mass test the 7.4 million population to curb infections in the community. Officials are now working out the details of the plan.
She noted that the government expected the situation to stabilise in two to three months based on past experience.
The next chief executive, Mrs Lam said, also needed time to be appointed by the central government and form the new government before taking office on July 1.
Gongfu master, film producer and Internet celebrity Checkley Sin Kwok Lam, 64, was the first to throw his hat into the election, announcing his candidacy in mid-January. Former member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong Titus Wu Sai Chuen, 62, has also said he intends to run. He had previously thrown his hat into the ring twice - in 2012 and 2017 - but did not get sufficient nominations both times.
Various other names, including Mrs Lam, former chief executive Leung Chun Ying and Financial Secretary Paul Chan, have been mentioned as possible candidates in recent months. But Mrs Lam and Mr Chan have not made their intentions clear, while Mr Leung appears open to the idea of returning to office.
