Hong Kong’s leader has signalled that the government’s key decision-making body, the Executive Council, will not be reshuffled after half of the eight veteran lawmakers serving as his advisers said they will not run in the coming Legislative Council elections.
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Martin Liao Cheung-kong, 68, who has served in Legco since 2012 and was affectionately known as the “class monitor” of the pro-establishment camp, emerged on Tuesday as the latest Exco member to announce that he would not to seek another term in the legislature.
Three other veteran lawmakers aged over 70 who sit on the Executive Council – Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong, Tommy Cheung Yu-yan of the Liberal Party, and non-affiliated Chan Kin-por – announced over the weekend that they would not seek re-election, while Exco convenor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, 75, has yet to confirm whether she will announce her candidacy.
“The Legislative Council differs from the Exco. Exco members’ terms align with the government’s five-year tenure, ending June 30, 2027. No Exco member has indicated plans to resign before then,” Lee said before his weekly meeting with Exco advisers.
There are currently eight lawmakers in the Executive Council, including rural leader Kenneth Lau Ip-keung, Stanley Ng Chau-pei of the Federation of Trade Unions, and Gary Chan Hak-kan of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress for Hong Kong.
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But Lee stopped short of addressing whether the age limit of 70, which some have speculated that Beijing favours, would be extended to include government officials, stating only that it was the lawmakers’ personal choice to step down.