Prognosis

Hong Kong’s Top Leader Election Is Wide Open as Race Starts

  • The two-week nomination period opens on Sunday with few clues
  • Carrie Lam’s front-runner position in doubt after Covid crisis
Carrie LamPhotographer: Chan Long Hei/Bloomberg
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Hong Kong’s election season officially begins Sunday, and despite a near-two month delay in proceedings due to a Covid crisis, it’s still wildly unclear who actually wants the city’s top job.

That’s about to change. Contenders now have two weeks to declare their candidacy and secure at least 188 votes from the committee of 1,500 largely pro-Beijing electors -- or 0.02% of the population -- who’ll decide the financial hub’s next leader on May 8.