Nominee To Replace John Lee Yet To Be Approved: CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Friday confirmed that she had nominated someone to replace John Lee as chief secretary, saying the appointment is pending Beijing's approval.

Lee tendered his resignation on Wednesday and announced his intention to run in the upcoming chief executive election.

Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday that the State Council had removed him from the post of chief secretary.

Xinhua said the decision was made the day before, and was based on Lam's suggestion. It also said the decision was in accordance with the Basic Law.

The chief executive told reporters on Friday that she had nominated a replacement for Lee, but she had yet to receive any notification on the matter from the central government.

She added that the government will operate normally despite the temporary vacancy.

“The chief secretary is responsible for coordinating different government bureaus in our anti-epidemic work,” Lam said.

“The temporary vacancy will have a certain impact but you can rest assured that the work will be done by other officials, especially as I myself had worked as chief secretary for more than four years previously. So, it won't cause big problems to the government’s work.”