As Donald Tsang moved closer to the chief executive's (CE) post, Hong Kong's political figures made public their expectations from him establishing a strong government, boosting the economy and improving people's livelihood.

Democratic Alliance for Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong Chairman Ma Lik said Tsang's most urgent tasks would be improving the standard of administration and the executive-legislative relation.

Since the Executive Council (ExCo) is the most important decision-making organ in Hong Kong, Tsang should appoint more people from different fields of society to solicit a wider range of opinions.

On the economic front, Ma said Tsang should ensure that the fruits of the economic recovery reached more people.

For Executive Councillor Cheng Yiu-tong, exercising cohesive powers to build up a harmonious society ought to be Tsang's top priority. Since Hong Kong has been a divided society for the past few years, Tsang must lead a strong government to avoid chaos.

"He also needs to push forth high-speed economic development," Cheng said. "If the economy flourishes, people's fury will reduce."

Liberal Party Chairman James Tien said that apart from measures to promote economic development and create more jobs, Tsang should maintain a good relation with government-friendly political parties in return for their support.

"The government cannot repeat the same old story of asking us to vote in favour of its policies in the Legislative Council (LegCo) after they have been finalized. The government should allow us to take part in policy formulation by way of thorough discussion and reflection of our voters' opinions," Tien said.

Since Tsang hasn't outlined his specific policies in his election manifesto, he needs to give an account of the major policy areas in his policy address in October, he said. For example, it's necessary for him to tell the public if he still wants a single-tender for the West Kowloon Cultural District project.

Hong Kong Senior Government Officers' Association president Peter Chan was pleased that a capable person like Tsang would be elected the CE. Since he comes from the civil service, he knows its operation as well as the aspirations and worries of the civil servants, Chan said.

He hoped Tsang would listen to more civil servants' opinions before formulating a policy and build a long-term partnership with them.

Hong Kong Association of Real Estate Developers president Stanley Ho said Tsang's election would be a good thing. Tsang knows the government operation well and that should help improve his administration and minimize disputes.

Among Tsang's nominators were "pro-democracy" legislators Albert Cheng, Albert Chan and Lau Chin-shek. Cheng hoped Tsang would pursue a people-based administrative style and handle the 2007-2008 constitutional reforms well.

Asked why he supported Tsang, Chan said he was definitely the best among the three candidates. He supported Tsang also because he had promised to help the disadvantaged people and tackle the widening gap income gap between the rich and the poor.

In a statement, Lau Chin-shek, who is now in Guangzhou, said he hoped the new CE would pay more attention to the under-privileged community and enact a law as soon as possible to make minimum wages and maximum working hours mandatory.

Admitting defeat on the heel of Tsang's nomination, Lee Wing-tat of Democratic Party said he had secured support from 50 EC members. Congratulating Tsang on his imminet victory, he said the party would participate in all future CE and legislature elections.

Also congratulating Tsang for his imminent victory, Chim Piu-chung another contender urged him to unite the different political forces to make Hong Kong's governance smooth and effective.

(HK Edition 06/16/2005 page2)