Executive Counsel Limited Political Risk Report No.9: Post Chief Executive Election 2017
On Sunday 26th March 2017, Carrie Lam was selected by the election committee to be fourth Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Lam will assume office on 1st July 2017.
In the election, held in secret ballot, there were 1,163 valid votes. Lam achieved a landslide majority of 777 votes, while her counterparts John Tsang and Woo Kwok-hing took 365 and 21 votes respectively.
Lam’s electoral victory will break political precedence in Hong Kong in many ways. Not only will Lam be the first female Chief Executive but also the first to be elected with negative net approval rate, which will not afford her a ‘honeymoon’ period. However, the ‘tough fighter’ will have to charge at these problems with predominantly uncooperative parties. The day after her victory, Lam vowed to mend Hong Kong’s social divisions, and 8 occupy central celebrity participants were arrested including 2 legislators, 2 social activists, 1 student leader, 2 university professors and a pastor. Although, hardly orchestrated by the government or Lam, it has been interpreted by oppositional forces as a hostile move to topple the pan democrats’ ‘one-third’ control in the Legislative Council, and to undermine their presence in all sectors. To add to this degree of difficulty, there is also resistance from the outgoing establishment. On 28 March 2017 when the Chief Executive-elect expressed her wish to liaise with the incumbent government to halt the Basic Competency Assessment (BCA) for Primary 3 students in May 2017, CY Leung replied a few hours later that “she can cancel it after 1st July” but not on his watch.
In the coming five years, Hong Kong will come to a critical point. Lam will inherit a basket of unanswered questions from her predecessor, and there is no way the Government can continue to dodge all these issues – a rapidly ageing population, radicalising youngsters, an overworked workforce, and insufficient investment on Research and Development. In the meantime, the perceived intervention from China to domestic affairs is wearing some Hong Kong people down, worst still wider society begins to acclimate to it. If the Chief Executive does not correct this perception at such crucial juncture, ‘we connect’ and the one country two systems - a core value - will suffer terminal erosion.
Although Lam does not intend to reorganise the government structure, she has pronounced a major cabinet reshuffle. To show herself not a ‘CY 2.0’, it is likely that she will remove key CY supporters such as the, short stay, Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, and other polarising secretaries such as Secretary for Education Eddie Ng. Lam may also promote several undersecretaries to rejuvenate the Cabinet, and add both women and friendly past co-workers. We share a table to list out potential key members of her cabinet.
Table: Potential member of Lam’s Cabinet
Position Incumbent Potential Candidates Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin- • Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Chief chung Secretary • Clement Cheung Wan-ching, Secretary for the Civil Service Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po • Peter Wong Tung-shun, Deputy Chairman, Chief Executive of Asia- Pacific of HSBC; Group Managing Director of HSBC Group • Margaret Leung Ko May-yee, Deputy Chairwoman, Managing Director of Chong Hing Bank • Laura Cha Shih May-lung, Lam’s Financial Affairs Advisor, Member of Executive Council, Chairwoman of Financial Services Development Council, Non-Executive Deputy Chairwoman of HSBC • Frederick Ma Si-hang, Chairman of MTRC Secretary for Rimsky Yuen Kwok- • Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, Senior Justice keung Counsel, Chairwoman of Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre • Johnny Mok Shu-luen, Senior Counsel, Member of HKSAR Basic Law Committee of National People’s Congress, Represented the government in a legal bid to unseat the four legislators, including ‘Longhair’ Leung Kwok-hung, Lau Siu-lai, Nathan Law and Edward Yiu. Convener of the Lam Woon-kwong • Bernard Charnwut Chan, Lam’s Executive Council Campaign Manager, Member of the Executive Council, President of Asia Financial Holdings Secretary for Gregory So Kam-leung • David Wong Yau-Ka, Lam’s economic Commerce and adviser, Chairman of MPF Schemes Economic Authority Development Secretary for Caejer Chan Ka-keung • Laurence Li, Lam’s Deputy Campaign Financial Services Manager, Senior Counsel and the Treasury • Anita Fung Yuen-mei, Independent Non-executive Director of HKEX, former CEO of HSBC Secretary for Raymond Tam Chi-yuen • Lau Kong-wah, Former DAB Legislative Constitutional and Councilor, Secretary for Home Affairs Mainland Affairs Secretary for Eddie Ng Hak-kim • Carrie Yau, Executive Director of VTC Education • Yeung Yun-hung, Undersecretary for education • Edward Yau Tang-wah, Director of the Chief Executive’s Office • Tai Hay-lap, Special Advisor of the Education University of Hong Kong, Former Secondary School Principal, Former Member of the Education Commission Secretary for Eric Ma Siu-cheung • Eric Ma Siu-cheung, Secretary for Development Development • Wai Chi-sing, Managing Director of Urban Renewal Authority, Former Permanent Secretary for Development
Secretary for the Wong Kam-sing • Wong Kam-sing, Secretary for the Environment Environment • Christine Loh Kung-wai, Undersecretary for the Environment Secretary for Home Lau Kong-wah • Lau Kong-wah, Secretary for Home Affairs Affairs • Florence Hui Hui-fai, Undersecretary for Home Affairs Secretary for Food Ko Wing-man • Sophia Chan Siu-Chi, Undersecretary and Health for Food and Health
*Other potential key members of Lam’s government include Annie Tam (Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare), Jessie Ting Yip Yin-mei (Secretary-General of the Office of the Chief Executive-elect), Lam Woon-kwong (Convenor of Executive Council) and Law Chi-Kwong (Commission on Poverty). However, Law is a member of the Democratic Party. At the moment, the party forbids any of its members to serve either in the Government or the Executive Council.
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