{"id":4515,"date":"2017-03-28T19:20:44","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T02:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=4515"},"modified":"2017-03-29T13:18:41","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T20:18:41","slug":"hong-kong-chief-executive-election-2017-wikipedia-org","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/03\/28\/hong-kong-chief-executive-election-2017-wikipedia-org\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong Chief Executive election and Occupy Central on March 26, 2017 (wikipedia.org)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election<\/b> was held on 26 March 2017 for the 5th term of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong<\/a> (CE), the highest office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region<\/a> (HKSAR). Former Chief Secretary for Administration<\/a>Carrie Lam<\/a> beat former Financial Secretary<\/a> John Tsang<\/a> and retired judge Woo Kwok-hing<\/a>, receiving 777 votes from the 1,194-member Election Committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The election came after the government’s controversial electoral reform proposal<\/a> was rejected by the Legislative Council<\/a> (LegCo) in the wake of a series of controversies and massive Occupy<\/strong> protest<\/a>. As a result, the Chief Executive remained being elected by the Election Committee of narrow electorate.<\/p>\n

The two front-runners, Lam and Tsang, emerged after incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying<\/a> surprisingly announced he would not run for second term. Both resigned from their posts in the government; while Lam’s resignation was approved by the central government<\/a> within days, Tsang’s resignation was delayed for a month, which sparked speculation that Tsang was not Beijing’s favoured candidate.<\/p>\n

Despite leading in the polls, Tsang struggled to receive nominations from the pro-Beijing<\/a> electors and had to rely heavily on the pro-democrats<\/a>, who did not field their own candidate in order to boost the chance for an alternative establishment candidate. Lam, with the Liaison Office<\/a> actively lobbying for her, took away 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.<\/p>\n

In the final election on 26 March, Lam received 777 votes, beating Tsang’s 365 votes and Woo’s 21 votes, higher than Leung’s 689 votes in the last election, becoming the first female Chief Executive in history. She also became the first Chief Executive to be elected without being the most popular candidate, as John Tsang led in all major public opinion polls.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Background<\/span><\/h2>\n
Further information: Leung Chun-ying as Chief Executive of Hong Kong<\/a>, 2014\u201315 Hong Kong electoral reform<\/a>, and 2014 Hong Kong protests<\/a><\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n

The 2014 sit-in protests<\/a> calling for “genuine universal suffrage” were held in response to the NPCSC decision affecting the 2017 election.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The highest office of Hong Kong, the Chief Executive, is currently elected by a 1,200-member Election Committee<\/a> (EC) which is divided into various subsectors and dominated by pro-Beijing politicians and tycoons. Since the Article 45<\/a> of the Basic Law of Hong Kong<\/a> states the “ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage<\/a> upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee<\/a> in accordance with democratic procedures”, the progress to universal suffrage has been the dominant issue in Hong Kong politics since the transfer of sovereignty<\/a> in 1997, in which the pro-democracy camp<\/a> has demanded the full implementation of Article 45.\u00a0In 2004 the National People’s Congress Standing Committee<\/a> (NPCSC) ruled out universal suffrage in the 2012 Chief Executive election<\/a>, but in 2007 ruled that the 2017 Chief Executive election “may be implemented by the method of universal suffrage”.<\/p>\n

During the constitutional reform debate<\/a> for the 2017 Chief Executive election, the NPCSC on 31 August 2014 imposed the standard that “the Chief Executive shall be a person who loves the country and loves Hong Kong” and be nominated by a nominating committee, mirroring the present Election Committee, to nominate two to three candidates, each of whom must receive the support of more than half of the members of the nominating committee.\u00a0The pan-democrats viewed the restrictive nominating process as a violation of international standards of free elections, as candidates unsupportive of the central government would likely be screened out. The “831 decision<\/a>” triggered a class boycott<\/a> in Hong Kong which escalated into an unprecedented 79-day large-scale occupy<\/strong> movement<\/a>, internationally known as the “Umbrella Revolution”.<\/p>\n

On 18 June 2015, the Legislative Council rejected the electoral reform proposal 28 votes to 8, with 33 principally pro-Beijing legislators controversially absent, thus the selection method and procedure remains unchanged.<\/p>\n

Candidates<\/span><\/h2>\n

Nominees<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Withdrew<\/span>[<\/span>edit<\/a>]<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

Candidate<\/th>\nBorn<\/th>\nParty<\/th>\nMost recent position<\/th>\nCampaign<\/th>\nNominations
\nreceived<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
<\/td>\n\"Carrie<\/a><\/td>\nCarrie Lam<\/a><\/b>
\n\u6797\u912d\u6708\u5a25<\/td>\n		13 May 1957
\n(age 59)<\/td>\n		Nonpartisan<\/a>
\n(Pro-Beijing<\/a>)<\/small><\/td>\n		Chief Secretary for Administration<\/a>
\n(2012\u20132017)<\/small><\/td>\n		\"Carrie<\/a>
\nAnnounced:<\/b> 16 January 2017
\nNominated:<\/b> 28 February 2017<\/small><\/td>\n		\n
\n

580 \/ 1,194\u2003(49%)<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"Woo<\/a><\/td>\nWoo Kwok-hing<\/a><\/b>
\n\u80e1\u570b\u8208<\/td>\n		13 January 1946
\n(age 71)<\/td>\n		Nonpartisan<\/a>
\n(Non-aligned)<\/small><\/td>\n		Deputy Judge of the Court of
\nFirst Instance<\/a> of the High Court<\/a>[7]<\/a><\/sup>
\n(2016)<\/small><\/td>\n		\"Woo<\/a>
\nAnnounced:<\/b> 27 October 2016
\nNominated:<\/b> 27 February 2017<\/small><\/td>\n		\n
\n

180 \/ 1,194\u2003(15%)<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"John<\/a><\/td>\nJohn Tsang<\/a><\/b>
\n\u66fe\u4fca\u83ef<\/td>\n		21 April 1951
\n(age 65)<\/td>\n		Nonpartisan<\/a>
\n(Pro-Beijing<\/a>)<\/small><\/td>\n		Financial Secretary<\/a>
\n(2007\u20132017)<\/small><\/td>\n		\"John<\/a>
\nAnnounced:<\/b> 19 January 2017
\nNominated:<\/b> 25 February 2017<\/small><\/td>\n		\n
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165 \/ 1,194\u2003(14%)<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Other minor candidates included insurer Jenny Kan Wai-fun, Vincent Lau Chi-wing, barrister Albert Leung Sze-ho,\u00a0ex-DAB<\/a> member Wu Sai-chuen\u00a0and Professor Yu Wing-yin.<\/p>\n

Expressed interest but did not run<\/span><\/h3>\n

Candidate<\/th>\nBorn<\/th>\nParty<\/th>\nMost recent position<\/th>\nCampaign<\/th>\nNominations
\nreceived<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
<\/td>\n\"Regina<\/a><\/td>\nRegina Ip<\/a>
\n\u8449\u5289\u6dd1\u5100<\/td>\n		24 August 1950
\n(age 66)<\/td>\n		New People’s Party<\/a>
\n(Pro-Beijing<\/a>)<\/small><\/td>\n		Member of the Legislative Council<\/a>
\nand New People’s Party<\/a>
\nChairwoman
\n(2008\u2013present; 2011\u2013present)<\/small><\/td>\n		\"Regina<\/a>
\nAnnounced:<\/b> 15 December 2016
\nWithdrew:<\/b> 1 March 2017<\/small><\/td>\n		Withdrew<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"Leung<\/a><\/td>\nLeung Kwok-hung<\/a>
\n\u6881\u570b\u96c4<\/td>\n		27 March 1956
\n(age 61)<\/td>\n		League of Social
\nDemocrats<\/a>
\n(Pro-democracy<\/a>)<\/small><\/td>\n		Member of the Legislative Council<\/a>
\n(2004\u20132010, 2010\u2013present)<\/small><\/td>\n		Announced:<\/b> 8 February 2017
\nWithdrew:<\/b> 25 February 2017<\/small><\/td>\n		Withdrew<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Pro-democrats’ civil nomination<\/span><\/h3>\n

The pro-democrat group Citizens United in Action, which was formed to promote Occupy<\/strong> Central<\/strong><\/a> initiator Benny Tai<\/a>‘s “ThunderGo” plan in the 2016 Legislative Council election<\/a>, launched the “CE Civil Referendum 2017” to engage the general Hong Kong population, who had no vote in the election. It conducted a “civil nomination” online, from 7 to 22 February, in co-operation with the University of Hong Kong<\/a> Public Opinion Programme (HKUPOP) and the Centre for Social Policy Studies (CSPS) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University<\/a>. Any candidate that secured 37,790 votes (one per cent of Hong Kong’s registered voters) from the general public would be a “civil candidate” in a “civil referendum” to be held from 10 to 19 March.\u00a0On 13 February, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data issued a statement concerning the “existing privacy risks” of the organisers collecting personal data.\u00a0In response to that, the organisers updated their system afterward and extended the nomination period until 28 February.<\/p>\n

On 25 February, Leung Kwok-hung<\/a> who pledged to only enter the race if he received enough civil nominations announced he would not run for the Chief Executive, as he only secured 20,234 nominations from the general public, about 17,000 fewer than the threshold. Among the 20,234 nominations, 13,440 were collected in public while the rest of them online. Leung stated that his being able to collect more than 20,000 nominations with personal contact information and identity card numbers had proved that “civil nomination” is achievable.\u00a0None of the candidates received the minimum number of 37,790 in the “civil nomination” as a result.<\/p>\n

Debates and forums<\/span><\/h2>\n

There were a few forums organised during the nomination period, including a public forum organised by D100 Radio on 19 February attended by Leung Kwok-hung<\/a> and Woo Kwok-hing<\/a> and a forum organised by pro-democracy<\/a> Power for Democracy<\/a> on 25 February and attended by Regina Ip<\/a> and Woo Kwok-hing.<\/p>\n

Candidate<\/th>\nEstimated
\nnominations<\/th>\n		Nominators<\/th>\nRef<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
\"Carrie<\/a>
\nCarrie Lam<\/a><\/td>\n		\n
\n

580 \/ 1,194\u2003(49%)<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
Blocs:<\/b> Agriculture and Fisheries, Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong<\/a>[1]<\/a><\/sup>, Catering, Chinese General Chamber of Commerce<\/a>, Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong<\/a>15\/18<\/sup><\/small>, Chinese Medicine12\/30<\/sup><\/small>, Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association<\/a>, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference<\/a>, Confucian Academy<\/a>, Culture9\/15<\/sup><\/small>, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong<\/a>[2]<\/a><\/sup>, Employers’ Federation of Hong Kong9\/16<\/sup><\/small>, EP3010\/15<\/sup><\/small>, Federation of Hong Kong Industries<\/a>17\/18<\/sup><\/small>, Finance15\/18<\/sup><\/small>, Financial Services16\/18<\/sup><\/small>, Heung Yee Kuk<\/a>, Hong Kong Buddhist Association<\/a>, Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce<\/a>12\/18<\/sup><\/small>, Hong Kong Taoist Association<\/a>8\/10<\/sup><\/small>, Hotel14\/17<\/sup><\/small>, Import and Export11\/17<\/sup><\/small>, Insurance12\/18<\/sup><\/small>, National People’s Congress<\/a>31\/33<\/sup><\/small>, New Territories District Councils53\/70<\/sup><\/small>, Performing Arts13\/15<\/sup><\/small>, Real Estate and Construction16\/18<\/sup><\/small>, Sports, Textiles and Garment14\/18<\/sup><\/small>, Tourism11\/18<\/sup><\/small>, Transport8\/18<\/sup><\/small>, Wholesale and Retail16\/18<\/sup><\/small><\/small><\/p>\n
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Individuals:<\/b> Chan Chun-ying<\/a>, Frank Cheng Chi-yan, Tommy Cheung<\/a>, Chow Luen-kiu, Fung Tak-lee, Junius Ho<\/a>, Lam King, Lam Shuk-yee<\/a>, Lee Sau-king, Leung Yiu-wah, Ma Fung-kwok<\/a>, Anthony Vincent Ng Wing-shun, Jimmy Ng<\/a>, Shiu Ka-fai<\/a>, Tam Chi-chung, Marco Wu Moon-hoi, Frankie Yick<\/a>, Yiu Si-wing<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Woo<\/a>
\nWoo Kwok-hing<\/a><\/td>\n		\n
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180 \/ 1,194\u2003(15%)<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
Blocs:<\/b> Academics in Support of Democracy13\/30<\/sup><\/small>, Civic Party<\/a>[3]<\/a><\/sup>, CoVision1613\/16<\/sup><\/small>, Demo-Social Front18\/22<\/sup><\/small>, Democratic Action Accountants2\/21<\/sup><\/small>, Doctors for Democracy14\/19<\/sup><\/small>, Health Professionals for Democracy 3022\/30<\/sup><\/small>, Hong Kong Social Workers’ General Union<\/a>, IT Vision8\/30<\/sup><\/small>, Land5cape 2016, Legal20\/30<\/sup><\/small>, O Superpower, Progressive Engineering, Together for Social Welfare<\/small><\/p>\n
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Individuals:<\/b> Fernando Cheung<\/a>, Chan Kan-tik, James Kwok Tsz-kwan, Joseph Lee<\/a>, Lee Ka-lun, Shiu Ka-chun<\/a>, Tsang Yuk-ting, Tung Chung-yin, Haster Wu Ka-yi, Raymond Yeung Chi-leung, Yeung Tak-yu, Yiu Chung-yim<\/a>, Waiky Yiu Kwok-wai<\/small><\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"John<\/a>
\nJohn Tsang<\/a><\/td>\n		\n
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165 \/ 1,194\u2003(14%)<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
Blocs:<\/b> ABC.P.A3\/4<\/sup><\/small>, Academics in Support of Democracy16\/30<\/sup><\/small>, CoVision163\/16<\/sup><\/small>, Demo-Social Front3\/22<\/sup><\/small>, Democrat Professionals Hong Kong, Democratic Action Accountants19\/21<\/sup><\/small>, Democratic Party<\/a>[4]<\/a><\/sup>, Doctors for Democracy5\/19<\/sup><\/small>, Health Professionals for Democracy 306\/30<\/sup><\/small>, Hearts of Accountants, Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union<\/a>, IT Vision21\/30<\/sup><\/small>, Legal6\/30<\/sup><\/small>, Professional Commons<\/a>, Public Doctor HK<\/small><\/p>\n
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Individuals:<\/b> Fiona Chan Ho-yan, Chan Kin-yung, Pierre Chan<\/a>, Chan Tong-sang, Ricky Chim Kim-lun, Choi Kin, Selina Chow<\/a>, Charles Chu Sai-ping, Chung Kwok-pan<\/a>, Ho Pak-leung, Ronnie Ho Pak-ting, Ip Hing-cheung, Kwan Ka-lun, Kelvin Lau Chi-to, Lee Yu-ming, Leung Ka-lau<\/a>, Luk Wang-kwong, Mak Suet-ching, Man Ka-leung, Ng Ming-him, Jason Shum Jiu-sang, Tang Wai-yee, James Tien<\/a>, Tsui Luen-on, Wan Siu-fai, Thomas Jefferson Wu, Derek Yee<\/a>, Yim Shun-see, Banny Yu Yuen-mau<\/small><\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
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Schedule of the 2017 Chief Executive election debates and forums<\/caption>\n
No.<\/th>\nDate<\/th>\nTime<\/th>\nHost<\/th>\nModerator(s)<\/th>\nParticipants<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0P\u00a0 Participant. \u00a0I\u00a0 Invitee.
\nN\u00a0 Non-invitee. \u00a0A\u00a0 Absent invitee.<\/small><\/th>\n		Tsang<\/a><\/small><\/th>\nLam<\/a><\/small><\/th>\nWoo<\/a><\/small><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/th>\n5 March 2017<\/td>\n7:30 p.m.<\/td>\nPath of Democracy<\/a><\/td>\nJoseph Tse
\nRonny Tong<\/a>
\nStephen Chiu<\/td>\n		A<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/th>\n6 March 2017<\/td>\nAfternoon<\/td>\nHKFI<\/td>\nRonnie Ng<\/td>\nA<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/th>\n8 March 2017<\/td>\n7:30 p.m.<\/td>\nIT Vision\/Charles Mok<\/a><\/td>\nDanny Fung<\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\nA<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/th>\n10 March 2017<\/td>\n10:00 a.m.<\/td>\nHKJA<\/a><\/td>\nShum Yee-lan
\nAllan Au<\/td>\n		P<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/th>\n12 March 2017<\/td>\n2:00 p.m.<\/td>\nHKPTU<\/a><\/td>\nRyan Lau<\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/th>\n14 March 2017<\/td>\n8:00 p.m.<\/td>\nnow TV<\/a>\/Cable TV<\/a>\/TVB<\/a>\/
\nPhoenix HK<\/a>\/CRHK<\/a>\/
\nMetro Radio<\/a>\/RTHK<\/a><\/td>\n		Kenneth Ng (TVB)<\/small>
\nMei Wong (Cable TV)<\/small><\/td>\n		P<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/th>\n19 March 2017<\/td>\n7:00 p.m.<\/td>\nPreparatory Committee for the
\nChief Executive Election Forum<\/td>\n		Joseph Tse
\nKaman Lee<\/td>\n		P<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/th>\n22 March 2017<\/td>\n7:00 p.m.<\/td>\nLegal subsector<\/td>\nAmbrose Ho<\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\nA<\/b><\/td>\nP<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

5 March 2017 \u2013 Path of Democracy<\/span><\/h3>\n

The first election forum after the nomination period was held on 5 March 2017 by think tank Path of Democracy<\/a>. John Tsang<\/a> was absent from the debate, as it was speculated that Tsang saw convenor of Path of Democracy Ronny Tong<\/a> as Carrie Lam<\/a>\u2019s supporter. In the debate, Lam tried to distance herself from unpopular current Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying<\/a>, dismissing suggestions by Woo that she was “Leung Chun-ying 2.0”, while Woo Kwok-hing<\/a> was targeted for his lack of experience in finance.<\/p>\n

12 March 2017 \u2013 Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union<\/span><\/h3>\n

An election forum was organised by the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union<\/a> (HKPTU) in which all three candidates met on the same stage for the first time. The candidates took turns to answer questions from the electors as well as some 400 educators in the audience. Carrie Lam said she is a victim of “white terror” in response to online attacks on her, as well as on her supporter Josephine Siao<\/a>. John Tsang refuted Lam, saying that online comments are not “white terror” but suppression on dissent.<\/p>\n

14 March 2017 \u2013 Seven media outlets<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

A two-hour televised debate co-organised by seven electronic media outlets took place at TVB City<\/a> on 14 March 2017.[109]<\/a><\/sup> All three candidates received questions from members of the audience and journalists and also directed their questions at each other. Tsang criticised Lam for being “CY 2.0”, the second version of the divisive incumbent Leung Chun-ying<\/a>, saying that people fear society will have “split 2.0” if Lam wins. Lam challenged Tsang for advocating a progressive profits tax, an idea he had opposed during his office as Financial Secretary.\u00a0Lam also dropped a bombshell by stating that she would resign if her position was contrary to mainstream public opinion. Former candidate Regina Ip<\/a> and political scientist Ma Ngok said that Tsang won the debate while Woo was clearly not prepared. On the other hand, commentator Michael Chugani said none of the three was able to deliver a knock-out blow to emerge the winner.<\/p>\n

19 March 2017 \u2013 Election Committee<\/span><\/h3>\n
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All three candidates attended the election forum organised by the Election Committee members.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A two-hour forum was co-organised by a group of Election Committee members from both the pro-democracy and pro-Beijing camp on 19 March 2017 at AsiaWorld-Expo<\/a>. Some 507 of the 1,194 election committee members attended the forum. The three candidates took 21 questions from the floor, 19 of which were from the pro-democrats as the pro-Beijing electors did not submit their questions. Lam made a dig at John Tsang’s “paperless office” when he was in office as Financial Secretary \u2013 an implication of Tsang’s laid-back working style. Tsang retorted by saying that it was more important to “work smart” than “work hard”.\u00a0John Tsang also mocked Lam by stating that she would be a “three-low” Chief Executive with low popularity, low energy and low legitimacy.\u00a0Woo criticised Tsang and Lam for passing the buck on the incumbent government’s mistakes. Political scientist Ivan Choy said Tsang was the best performer although Lam also made big progress.\u00a0According to a poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong<\/a> Public Opinion Programme (HKUPOP) after the forum, 62 per cent out of the 717 respondents said they would vote for Tsang if eligible after watching the forum, against 24 per cent for Lam and seven per cent for Woo.<\/p>\n

Pro-democrats’ civil referendum<\/span><\/h2>\n

Following the experience of conducting the “civil referendum” in the previous election in 2012, the pro-democrat group Citizens United in Action led by Occupy<\/strong> Central<\/strong><\/a> co-founder Benny Tai<\/a> will again launch a “civil referendum” for this election, ranging from 10 to 19 March through online app Telegram<\/a> or at physical booths at the campuses of the University of Hong Kong<\/a>, Chinese University of Hong Kong<\/a> and Hong Kong Polytechnic University<\/a> on 12 and 19 March. The referendum was said to engage the general public, which lacks the right to vote. The public was asked to pick “support, oppose or abstain” for each of the three candidates. The 325-member “Democrats 300+” on the Election Committee<\/a> agreed to take either “major reference” from the result or to completely follow it.\u00a0On 12 March, Tai’s team received a last-minute notification that Polytechnic University Students’ Union couldn’t provide room for the polls due to pressure from the university. Tai called it a “political decision”.\u00a0About 65,000 people voted with 96.1 per cent of respondents opposing Carrie Lam, while John Tsang received 91.9 per cent of the votes.<\/p>\n

Final campaign<\/span><\/h2>\n

After the election debates and forums, John Tsang<\/a> further expanded his lead over Carrie Lam<\/a> in the polls. Tsang continued becoming a social media sensation, posting videos of his supporters from the sectors endorsing him including a clip where he cooked and had meal with his core supporters directed by film director Johnnie To<\/a>, as well as reading out negative comments made about him, a tactic reminiscent of the popular American show Jimmy Kimmel Live<\/a><\/i>, where celebrities are invited to read mean tweets<\/a> targeting them. Tsang also met with the general public while campaigning in the streets. On contrary, Lam received largely negative comments on social media. According to analysis by the WiseNews electronic data base, 57.8 per cent of internet comments about Tsang were supportive, with only 10.7 per cent were against him. As for comments on Lam, 83.4 per cent were against her. She was criticised for manipulating the University of Hong Kong<\/a>\u2019s Emeritus Professor Nelson Chow Wing-sang after posting a video of her visiting elderly people in Sham Shui Po<\/a> with Chow, despite Chow having not endorsed Lam’s candidacy.\u00a0She was also criticised after one of her campaign staffers said she was “too tired” to make the trip to visit the community in Tin Shui Wai<\/a>, a New Territories new town<\/a> with a high proportion of lower-income residents.<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n

John Tsang<\/a> held a campaign rally on 24 March in Edinburgh Place<\/a>, Central<\/a> which was attended by around 3,500 supporters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ahead of the 26 March election, Tsang held a rally on the evening of 24 March at Edinburgh Place<\/a>, Central<\/a>, the final stop on his half-day bus parade on Hong Kong Island. Around 3,500 showed support at the rally, while some 449,000 people watched the rally on his Facebook page and more than 18,700 comments were left on the page. Film director Johnnie To, Tsang\u2019s wife Lynn and his former political assistant Julian Law Wing-chung were among the six guests who spoke at the rally. In Tsang’s speech, he said: “We are here to show our love for this city of ours … I hope the Election Committee members, who have the power to vote, would heed our call and heal the rift, and make Hong Kong the home we imagined it should be.” He also made a reference to the 2014 Occupy<\/strong> protests<\/a>, Tsang said: “Here we stand near Lung Wo Road<\/a> and Connaught Road<\/a> \u2013 Occupy<\/strong> happened near this place in more than two years ago, but I hope our rally today can give a new meaning to this place. I hope you will remembered that on 24 March 2017, we gathered here for the unity of Hong Kong.”<\/p>\n

The rally was held after Tsang faced a fresh round of criticism from veteran Beijing loyalist Lo Man-tuen, who was vice-chairman of the Chinese People\u2019s Political Consultative Conference<\/a>\u2019s (CPPCC) subcommittee on foreign affairs and member of Carrie Lam’s campaign office. He accused Tsang of being “an agent of [the] pan-democrats” with United States backing when he chose to ignore Beijing’s signals against his running for the Chief Executive. Lo also wrote that Beijing does not trust Tsang because of his “lack of principle on major issues”, namely the Occupy<\/strong> protests and 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest<\/a>. He said Tsang failed to join the Chief Executive and other principal officials<\/a> in a signature campaign organised by the Alliance for Peace and Democracy<\/a> against the Occupy Central<\/strong> movement<\/a> that challenged Beijing\u2019s authority” and even expressed appreciation for the local film Ten Years<\/a><\/i>, which was considered a smear on “one country, two systems”, in addition to his “laid-back” working style. Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying<\/a> also slammed his former subordinate\u2019s lack of concrete plans for housing.<\/p>\n

On 24 March, National People’s Congress<\/a> (NPC) chairman Zhang Dejiang<\/a> and head of the United Front Work Department<\/a> Sun Chunlan<\/a> reportedly arrived in Shenzhen to meet with electors from different sectors to lobby for Lam.<\/p>\n

More at: \u00a0https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hong_Kong_Chief_Executive_election,_2017<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 AdministrationCarrie Lam beat former Financial Secretary John Tsang and retired… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4515"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4515"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4524,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4515\/revisions\/4524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Candidate<\/th>\nPolls<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Tsang<\/td>\n81.38%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lam<\/td>\n13.95%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Woo<\/td>\n4.67%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n