Hong Kong chief executive election on May 8

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – The election for the next chief executive in Hong Kong will be held on May 8, the government announced on Friday, with the nomination period to run from April 3-16.

The race for the top post in the semi-autonomous region was scheduled for March 27, but was postponed as it was undergoing an intense COVID-19 wave.

Carrie Lam, the current leader of the global financial hub whose five-year term ends on June 30, has not yet confirmed if she would seek another term.

Britain handed back Hong Kong to China in 1997 under the “one country, two systems” principle until 2047.

But after violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 following a bill that could have allowed criminals to be extradited to mainland China, Beijing stepped up its influence.

In July 2020, it passed a controversial National Security Law and later brought changes to the region's election system.

A broadly representative Election Committee elects the chief executive, in accordance with the Basic Law, the de facto constitution of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.