In apparent swipe at John Tsang, Carrie Lam warns against populism in Hong Kong poll
Former chief secretary says she aims to make policy platform public before nominations begin
With the clock ticking for contestants to secure nominations to qualify for Hong Kong’s leadership race, front runner Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Sunday called for a debate with her election rivals on government spending rather than competing on populist pledges.
In a thinly veiled attack on her arch-rival, John Tsang Chun-wah, and his past approach to managing public funds, Lam spoke against hoarding wealth – a day before the former finance minister unveils his campaign platform.
Lam, the former No 2 official widely seen as Beijing’s preferred choice, also hinted that she might scrap a controversial plan to put all primary school students through a new competence assessment exam proposed by the current administration.
Parents and teachers are worried it will require students to undergo more drilling, and all three of Lam’s election rivals have publicly spoken about scrapping it – taking a seemingly populist approach against a widely opposed policy.
Tsang, who was a rank below Lam in government, but enjoys higher popularity even as the underdog in the coming election in March, unveils his platform on his website on Monday morning and will hold a press conference later.
