HONG KONG: Incumbent chief executive (CE) Donald Tsang won a landslide victory yesterday to continue serving as Hong Kong' top leader.

Tsang was elected with 649 votes of the 772 valid votes cast by Election Committee (EC) members. His only challenger, Civic Party legislator Alan Leong, got 123 votes.

With a turnout of more than 99 percent, 789 members of the 795-strong EC cast their secret ballots.

According to the Basic Law, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) CE is elected by the broadly-representative EC and then appointed by the central government. After the appointment, Tsang will become the third-term CE of the SAR, with his term starting on July 1, 2007 and ending on June 30, 2012.

An emotional Tsang held back tears when the election result was announced; and said he was deeply moved by the support he had received.

Recalling Premier Wen Jiabao's remarks of "shouldering heavy responsibility" when he was first appointed CE in 2005, Tsang said: "I am shouldering high expectations placed upon me by my nation, my fellow citizens, my colleagues and family."

Tsang said that the next-term government under his leadership will be broadly representative and balance the interests of various sectors of society. He pledged to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor.

"We shall do our utmost to push economic development and establish Hong Kong as the No 1 international financial center in the region," he said.

He said the election is a major step in Hong Kong's constitutional development within the framework of the Basic Law, and a success of the "one country, two systems" principle.

In Beijing, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council conveyed its best wishes to Tsang and praised the election as "open, fair and just".

At the same time, Hong Kong-based central government bodies - the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government, the Office of the Commissioner of the Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong and the garrison of the People's Liberation Army - also congratulated Tsang.

With the solid backing of the central government, Tsang will lead Hong Kong people ahead and write a new chapter under the principle of "one country, two systems", the liaison office said.

In the opinion of many EC members, Tsang has not only the solid support of the EC but also high popularity among the public.

Ma Lik, chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said Tsang is the choice of EC members and the citizens.

"The fact that he won eight more votes than nominations was proof of his hard work to canvass support from even EC members who did not nominate him."

(China Daily 03/26/2007 page1)