The newly elected president of the city’s Legislative Council (LegCo), Starry Lee Wai-king, pledged on Thursday that she would provide her full assistance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government in aligning the SAR’s development with the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan, and would maintain constructive checks and balances in pursuing efficient collaboration with the executive branch.  

Lee made her pledge after defeating her colleague, Ronick Chan Chun-ying of the financial sector, in a 47 to 42 vote. The election followed a two-hour special forum on Thursday morning.

Aware that the public expects the legislature to begin work swiftly, Lee said that the first meeting of the new-term LegCo, scheduled for Jan 14, will focus on discussing recovery and reconstruction initiatives in response to the fire at Wang Fuk Court apartment complex in Tai Po, which broke out on Nov 26 killing 161 people and injuring 79. Details of the meeting will be announced later.

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Lee, 51, is the most senior incumbent lawmaker. She was first elected in 2008 and has been a lawmaker ever since.

Lee served as a non-official member of the Executive Council from 2012 to 2016, and chaired the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong political party from 2015 to 2023. Since 2023, she has served as a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

As the city’s only delegate to the NPC Standing Committee, Lee observed that the work of the NPC and that of the LegCo is mutually reinforcing amid the city’s push to integrate into national development. She estimated there would be roughly four overlapping meetings per year and pledged to remain in Hong Kong to chair LegCo sessions on key issues, with the nation's backing.

She said she envisions that lawmakers will serve as builders who solve problems, not as critics who merely identify them.

She affirmed her commitment to maintaining impartiality in her future work and pledged to engage actively with the authorities and with lawmakers from all sectors.

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During the forum, Lee and Chan fielded questions from 21 lawmakers on issues such as how to unite lawmakers from different backgrounds, and how to enhance communication between the executive and legislative branches.

Lee said she would focus on ensuring that the LegCo better integrates with the broader national development agenda, invite policy bureaus to brief legislators at various stages of policy-making, and build a legislature where all legislators can leverage their strengths.

Lawmaker Priscilla Leung Mei-fun said this election sets a benchmark for high-quality democracy.

“In my 17 years of serving on the Legislative Council, this is the first time a major chairperson election forum has been conducted with such civility and quality. It has opened a new chapter for good governance as we enter its second phase,” Leung said, as she congratulated Lee on getting elected.

The debate was instructive for both re-elected and newly appointed members, representing a high-level political contest, Leung added.

The G19 lawmakers, comprising nine legislators from the functional constituency and eight from the Election Committee constituency, said they would fully support the president’s work over the next four years.

The voting was conducted by secret ballot, and the media were required to leave the press gallery and photography booth to ensure lawmakers’ voting intentions were not recorded.

According to Article 71 of the Basic Law, the LegCo president is elected by LegCo members and is responsible for the presiding over the legislature’s administrative and ceremonial roles, as well as for ensuring that LegCo meetings are smoothly conducted.

The president must be a Chinese resident of not less than 40 years of age, who is a permanent resident of the HKSAR with no right of abode in any foreign country, and who has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 20 years.

Contact the writer at atlasshao@chinadailyhk.com