Carrie Lam, the leader of Hong Kong, announced on Monday that she will not seek re-election to a second term as the global financial centre's chief executive in a leadership election set for 8 May.
According to local press reports, the politician made the announcement just a day after the candidate nomination period, which runs until 16 April, began.
"I will complete my five-year term as chief executive on 30 June, and officially conclude my 42-year career in government", Lam told reporters, per a translation.
The leader said that she took into account her family's opinions on the matter, adding that the decision was her "personal wish and aspiration" and was entirely based on family considerations.
"There's only one consideration and that is family. I have told everyone before that family is my first priority in terms of my consideration. They think it's time for me to go home", Lam said.
She then reiterated that her family remained her number one priority, as she admitted that she has not yet decided what she will do in the future.
Regarding the upcoming elections, Lam said that she has not yet received resignations from her government's top officials. She also stated that she will not speculate on who else may run.
According to Hong Kong media, her secretary for security, the number two post in the government, John Lee, is expected to run for her position. During the 2019 protests, Chief Secretary Lee served as the city's security chief.
According to her official biography, Lam, born in then-British Hong Kong in 1957, began her career in the Hong Kong government in 1980 and has subsequently held 20 different roles since then.
Lam defeated former Financial Secretary John Tsang and former Judge Woo Kwok-hing in the 2017 leadership election, receiving 777 votes.
The Election Committee's 1,500 members are expected to elect Hong Kong's next leader for the city of over 7 million residents. In March of last year, the Election Committee's seats were enlarged from 1,200 to 1.500 after an overhaul, and its makeup was completely reshaped.
Lam's policy has been criticised in particular for restrictive measures against the spread of the novel coronavirus. Daily infections caused by the highly transmissible Omicron strain in Hong Kong were climbing exponentially in February, peaking at 6,116 the day before Lam announced the election's postponement, according to Hong Kong media reports. On 3 March, the daily case count peaked at 76,991, before steadily decreasing to roughly 8,000 on 27 March.
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