Former security minister says the city’s next leader cannot avoid the difficult issue of electoral reform
TONY.CHEUNG@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Monday, 25 April, 2016, 9:21pm
Executive Council member Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee. Photo: SCMP Pictures
The thorny issue of achieving “one person, one vote” for the city’s top job must be addressed no matter who governs Hong Kong in the next five years, Executive Council member Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said on Monday.
Ip, a former Hong Kong security minister who is widely tipped to run for chief executive next March, also said experience in the public sector and the ability to build consensus were important qualities the next chief executive should possess. Several pro-establishment legislators have criticised Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying as lacking in these areas.
Political divisions in Hong Kong have worsened since the Legislative Council voted down a Beijing-decreed electoral reform package in June last year. Pro-Beijing politicians have since questioned whether Leung should avoid touching on the highly sensitive issue again should he be re-elected next year.
But speaking at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Ip suggested that if the city was to rebuild trust, an electoral overhaul was an issue “any future leader of Hong Kong cannot avoid” .
“If Hong Kong reaches agreement on the chief executive election by universal suffrage, that would greatly strengthen Hong Kong people’s voice in ‘one country, two systems’ and strengthen confidence,” Ip said. “That would help smooth out a lot of wrinkles and build consensus.”
She also added that the next administration must work on strengthening the city’s economic competitiveness, education and civil service.
Ip reiterated that it was “premature” to say if she would be running next year, but on qualities that the city’s leader should possess, she said: “Real hands-on management experience is important ... The next chief executive also needs to be more of a consensus politician: someone who can work with Legco and build consensus within the community.”
Before she was elected a lawmaker in 2008, Ip served in the Hong Kong government for almost three decades. She stepped down as a minister in 2003, after 500,000 people took to the streets to oppose a national security bill that she was tasked with pushing through Legco.
That year, when the Post asked if she would run for chief executive, Ip said: “You must be joking. I have no such ambition whatsoever. To be chief executive, the sacrifice you need to make ... is too great.”
On Monday, Ip explained that she was “feeling quite embattled” at that time.
“I did not feel I was able to take up any further responsibilities, but my circumstances have changed now,” she said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1938458/universal-suffrage-cannot-be-ignored-next-hong-kong-chief
