Opinion | Starry Lee or Ronick Chan? Lawmakers’ choice will reveal their priorities

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu swore in the new Legislative Council on January 1 without issue, even though a few lawmakers had to redo their oaths. And the first order of business for them is to elect the council president in a vote expected on January 8.

Whether Lee’s message to Legco members – calling on them to be “representatives of the public”, and to prioritise the interests of the nation and Hong Kong over personal political gain and glory – is heard and how they interpret his words will be revealed then.

There are two candidates for the job, both veteran lawmakers: Starry Lee Wai-king and Ronick Chan Chun-ying. Lee has been a Legco member since 2008 and Chan, since 2016. The two come from drastically different backgrounds.

Lee began her political career at 25 when she was elected to the Kowloon City District Council in 1999. She remained a member of the district council until 2023, while also serving as a member of Legco and the Executive Council (2012-2016), and leading the city’s largest political party as its first female chairperson for over eight years (2015-2023). In 2016, she became the chair of the Legco House Committee, taking over from Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, who became Legco president.

Chan first entered politics in 2016, when he ran uncontested for the finance functional constituency. He has since been part of the G19, a group in Legco made up mainly of independent lawmakers from the economic and financial sectors, working together to study, propose and advocate policies.