Chief Executive candidate John Tsang is seen at HK marathon in Central. 12FEB17 SCMP/ Felix WongThe formal nominations process for the chief executive election opened yesterday. John Tsang Chun-wah has obtained his first 24 nominations from the pan-democrat dominated accountancy sector. Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has received 27 nominations from rural affairs body, the Heung Yee Kuk.
Meanwhile, Woo Kwok-hing is urgently trying to find more support. The retired judge says he has only received three nominations so far.
A chief executive hopeful needs at least 150 nominations from the 1,194 members Election Committee to qualify as a candidate. After that, the candidates need more than 600 votes to win during the election on March 26 to succeed Leung Chun-ying as Hong Kong’s next leader.
The Democratic Action Accountants, an ally of pan-democratic party Democrats 300+, have said they will give 17 more votes to Tsang. He will also get a further eight votes from doctors in the Election Committee’s medical sector.
Democratic Action Accountants’ spokeswoman Lee Suk-yee said that: “Popularity is an important consideration. Hong Kong urgently needs a Chief Executive who is capable of uniting society.”
“When deciding who to nominate, we also think there should be a good competition, and we should ensure more candidates fitting the basic requirements can enter the race. It will bring more meaning into the candidate debates,” she added.
The group will reserve another four of its votes to be used “strategically” at a later stage.