HONG KONG (dpa-AFX) – The controversial Hong Kong Prime Minister Carrie Lam will not seek a second term and will retire on June 30. As the 64-year-old reported to the press in Hong Kong on Monday, her decision was made a long time ago. At the beginning of last year, she informed the central government in Beijing of her plans. Lam thanked China’s communist leadership for their “respect and confidence” in their leadership role in China’s special administrative region.
The unpopular politician put an end to speculation as to whether she would run again. During her five-year term in office, there were ongoing mass protests and the biggest political crisis in the former British crown colony since it was returned to China in 1997, which ended in a massive restriction of political freedoms and the suppression of the democratic opposition.
Her resignation, more democratic participation and free elections were the main demands of the demonstrators in their protests that temporarily paralyzed Hong Kong in 2019. China’s leadership responded in July 2020 with a strict national security law that has since suppressed criticism and restricted political freedom. Leading opposition figures have been arrested, tried and sentenced, while others have fled into exile.
Hong Kong media speculated that her departure would clear the way for today’s number two, Chief Executive John Lee. The 64-year-old was the head of security during the mass protests. Hong Kong’s next head of government will be appointed in May, as usual, by an assembly mostly loyal to Beijing./lw/DP/zb