Hong Kong chief executive election: Only candidate Lee Ka-chao elected as new chief executive – BBC News

But he hardly said a word about Hong Kong’s constitutional reform.

Li Jiachao stated at the platform briefing that if elected, he will bring Hong Kong citizens a government that “can do things and get things done”, and reiterated that the government he leads will aim at results.

Li Jiachao, a former police officer, officially registered for the election of the sixth chief executive on April 13, and successfully won 786 nomination votes, more than half of the electoral committee.

Public opinion generally believes that under the arrangement of “improving the electoral system”, the election of Hong Kong’s chief executive this time is similar to the “one-person model” in Macau. Li Jiachao, who has been “blessed” by Beijing, has become the only candidate so far. If nothing else, he will be the next chief executive.

The commentary also said that this move reflects Beijing’s request for the future chief executive to focus on maintaining national security and stability.

Zhang Guojun, vice-chairman of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong, the largest pro-establishment faction in Hong Kong, said in an exclusive interview with the BBC in Chinese that many important things happened in Hong Kong in the past, and the governance efficiency was not ideal. In this regard, Li Jiachao’s background is competent.

However, according to the regular opinion polls conducted by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, after the outbreak of the Hong Kong amendment bill in 2019, Li Jiachao’s net popularity has been in a negative value for a long time; in October 2019, his net popularity was negative 63.4%. A poll conducted by the Hong Kong Research Association in early April this year also showed that Li’s score was 2.25 out of 5, which is close to the level of dissatisfaction.

The results of the vote were released, and the current Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, issued a statement to congratulate Li Jiachao on her election; she said that she and the current government will make good handovers with the chief executive-designate, and will make every effort to provide all necessary assistance for the new government to take office. .

Another election commissioner, Tang Yingnian, told Hong Kong media that he is full of expectations for Li Jiachao’s new position, and believes that Li’s high-voted election “will reflect the support of all sectors of society.”

Ye Guoqian, Hong Kong’s election commissioner, told the BBC that what everyone should pay attention to is “Li Jiachao’s own commitment to Hong Kong and whether he really follows the relevant laws of Hong Kong to maintain the rule of law in Hong Kong and maintain our existing system is the most important thing. “

Ye Guoqian said: “First of all, I think he has to solve the housing problem and give the people of Hong Kong confidence. The other is the economy. In the face of the epidemic, the Hong Kong economy is indeed facing a very serious situation. He has to solve this too.”

He asked, “What’s there to worry about for someone who has been a police officer in the past and has held this position?”

In fact, Li Jiachao also said during the election campaign that he would unite Hong Kong and speak to the younger generation, vowing to win back the support of Hong Kong young people. According to Hong Kong media “Hong Kong 01”, on May 4, the eve of the vote, Li Jiachao participated in an event held to celebrate the “May 4th Movement” and nearly 80 young people in Hong Kong. Li Jiachao said at the time that his new government would put the youth policy on the agenda. in an important position.

He also said that he is willing to provide opportunities for young Hong Kong people who “violate the law” during the amendment scandal, “willing to communicate with different people at the appropriate time, and create a good social atmosphere for the long-term development of Hong Kong.”

However, Professor Chen Jialuo of the Department of Politics and International Relations of Hong Kong Baptist University expressed doubts about whether Li Jiachao can make up for the rifts in Hong Kong society. He told the BBC Chinese that if Li Jiachao’s predecessor, the capital, could not unite Hong Kong, his chances of uniting Hong Kong were “almost zero.”

Chen Jialuo explained that in view of Li Jiachao’s background as the former Secretary for Security and the main official responsible for amending the ordinance in 2019, Beijing is determined to choose him in this competition of only one person, “like rubbing salt on Hong Kong’s wounds.” Chen Jialuo He told the BBC that Li Jiachao could not hide that he had nothing to do with the erosion of civil liberties and human rights in Hong Kong, nor could he pretend that he did not serve in the Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor government (and the Leung Chun-ying government before that). What he can do now is focus policy on housing and social mobility policy issues.

“It’s impossible for a leopard to change its spots, right?” Chen Jialuo said.

Regarding the young generation in Hong Kong, Chen Jialuo said that what Li Jiachao has been able to do so far is to “organize and hold events with young people from grassroots organizations under the Liaison Office from time to time, because he really needs the participation of young faces to be able to participate in Hong Kong. Popular among young people.

In fact, when Li Jiachao announced his candidacy for chief executive, current affairs commentator Cheng Xiang once told BBC Chinese that Beijing chose Li Jiachao from the perspective of “stopping violence and chaos”. Cheng Xiang believes that since the handover, the central government has always complained about Hong Kong – the return of 1997 is only regarded as the return of sovereignty, and the governance and people’s hearts have not returned in the past 25 years. In 2019, after the turmoil against the amendment bill, Beijing was determined to take back the governance of Hong Kong, so that the governance of Hong Kong in the future will be in line with the domestic system.