‘He may already know how many votes he has’: CY Leung ‘top seed’ in Hong Kong chief executive race, Regina Ip says
Veteran lawmaker thinks incumbent has advantage, says it’s unlikely both Finance Secretary John Tsang and Chief Secretary Carrie Lam resign to contest election
Speaking on a Commercial Radio programme, the New People’s Party lawmaker said she thought Leung would “definitely” seek re-election.
“Mr Leung is very confident,” she said, stressing that the chief executive was currently the “top seed” in the race.
When asked why she thought Leung had an advantage over other candidates, Ip said the incumbent usually had the upper hand.
“Since he is the incumbent, he has ways to gain support from the 1,200 people [in the election committee]. He may already know how many votes he has secured,” she said.
“But since both financial secretary and chief secretary are only one step away from the top post, they would think about [running for chief executive],” she said. “Even if they weren’t thinking about it, there would be others encouraging them to do so.”
She added, however, that it would be “awkward” for either of the officials to run against Leung.
“How can you attack your boss?” she asked, explaining that Lam and Tsang were also involved in making government policies.
“I consider many things and not just this. This is a major event in Hong Kong. Of course I think about it,” she said.
