Speculation is building up as to who will be the next Chairman of the Sai Kung District Council. With the pan-democrat parties taking 26 of the 28 seats on the new council, the long-serving Chairman, George Ng Sze-fuk not only lost his seat but also his crown. At the same time the defeat of the pro-government majority that had run the council for decades means that its entire leadership, as well as its governing ethos, is ripe for change.
The current make up of the council makes the Neo-democrats, led by Legislative Councillor Gary Fan Kwok-wai with 9 seats, the largest party, and the Tseung Kwan O People’s Livelihood Concern Group, led by Ricky Or Yiu-lam, which won 8 seats, the second largest group.
It is understood that Ben Chung Kam-lun, 31, who is the convener of the Neo Democrats, is their favourite for the position. When questioned by local Chinese language media he said that he was considering whether to compete and emphasised that coordination between the pan-dem parties was underway. Ricky Or Yiu-lam said that he is also considering running for the post.
Gary Fan Kowk-wai has told the media that he was coordinating with various stakeholders in Sai Kung District and hoped that he could coordinate the chairmen and vice-chairmen of all working committees and working groups in one go, to achieve the goal of “everyone has a place, and everyone has a role to play.” He also hoped to set longer-term goals for the work of the District Councils.
One of the ideas that Fan is said to be considering is a “two plus two” system, where re-election of the chairman and vice-chairman takes place every two years. After two years, the chairman and vice chairman may need to resign and start the re-election process. He suggested that parties sign an agreement to ensure that the re-election can proceed smoothly. This would allow both the largest pan-dem parties on the District Council to share responsibilities. However Fan said that it may not possible to modify the standing orders of the meeting before the election of the chairman and vice-chairman. In that case it may take a longer time come to any arrangement.
If this arrangement proved possible then a member of the Neo-democrats would be the chairmen of the Council for the first two years, and a members of the Concern Group will be the chairmen for the last two years. Ricky Or said he is open to the idea.
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