Changes to Hong Kong electoral system a long time coming, Carrie Lam says, citing nearly two decades of protests
- Pointing to resistance to Beijing initiatives stretching back to 2003, city leader applauds officials’ ‘courage and determination to make things right’
- Lam adds she believes recent declaration that ‘patriots’ must run city will not affect the role of foreigners working in the judiciary
Hong Kong’s leader has defended Beijing’s planned overhaul of the city’s electoral system, saying the rancour in the former British colony’s political scene has troubled the central government for almost two decades.
Lam’s remarks came a day after the top Beijing official in charge of Hong Kong affairs declared that the city’s administrative and electoral systems needed to undergo a fundamental revision to ensure only “patriots” held key positions in all three branches of government – the executive, legislature and judiciary – as well as statutory bodies.
Xia Baolong, head of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, also said Beijing had to play a dominant role in revamping the city’s electoral system, but promised the central government would communicate with the local administration and consult different sectors before initiating the changes.
In her weekly media briefing on Tuesday morning, Lam was asked if Beijing had decided to initiate the changes because she had failed to heal the city’s political divide since taking office in July 2017.
