Hong Kong (dpa) – One has been nicknamed “pig” for his alleged lack of intellect. He has admitted cheating on his wife, allegedly seduced a mistress on an office sofa and secretly built an illegal 223-square-metre basement beneath his home that is said to include a wine cellar. The other has been nicknamed “wolf” for his alleged cunning and ruthlessness. He is accused of sharing a dinner with a triad gangster on the campaign trail and suggested using riot police and tear gas against peaceful protesters when he was a senior government adviser. On Sunday, after a campaign soiled by a level of mud-slinging that wouldn't be out of place in a farmyard, either “pig” Henry Tang or “wolf” Leung Chun-ying is due to be anointed Hong Kong's next leader. The contest between Leung and Tang has been so ungentlemanly that Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping intervened to appeal for restraint. The general population, who cannot vote, are unimpressed by either candidate, and were expected to march in protest during Sunday's balloting by the largely pro-China, 1,200-member election committee, many of whose members take their voting instructions from Beijing. Last week, officials from the Beijing Liaison Office were reportedly canvassing committee members by phone while senior Politburo member Liu Yandong received notable committee members in a hotel on the Chinese side of the border. Even if Sunday's vote yields a clear enough majority to avoid a second round in May, Beijing's apparent hope of a clean, tidy succession for Hong Kong has been shattered. When the contest began, Beijing was thought to favor Tang out of the two contenders, both of whom are firmly pro-establishment and China-friendly. A former financial secretary friendly with the tycoons who run Hong Kong, he was viewed as a pliable, if somewhat buffoonish, figurehead to succeed Donald Tsang, Hong Kong's chief executive since 2005. But Tang was quickly mired in scandal, forced to admit at least one affair and then humbled by the revelation that he built a basement extension to his home without planning permission. At an awkward press conference, he jettisoned any remaining credibility by asking for forgiveness while appearing to blame his wife for the construction, allowing her to make a tearful plea on his behalf. From that moment, it seemed, the gloves were off, and Leung came under attack over revelations that a triad gangster known as “Shanghai Tsai” attended one of his campaign dinners and alleged conflicts of interest when he led the government's Executive Council. Last week, in a televised debate, Tang breached protocol by revealing confidential details of a 2003 Executive Council meeting at which he claims Leung suggested using riot police and tear gas against protesters marching over a proposed anti-sedition law. When Leung denied the allegation, Tang accused him of lying and reported Leung to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Leung called Tang's allegation unlawful and immoral. More mud has stuck on Tang than on Leung, it seems. But unlike Tsang, who had more than 70 percent public support when he took up office, only four in 10 people back Leung, who is seen as a chameleon-like opportunist and has been forced to deny repeated claims he was once a covert Communist Party member. The campaign has been an embarrassment to Beijing which has doggedly refused to allow full democracy in Hong Kong, saying the wealthy city is not yet mature enough. China's leaders habitually wag fingers disapprovingly at political scandals abroad as examples of the dangers of democracy and pride themselves on the smooth and orderly successions of power they oversee. Now, with the “wolf” at the door of power in Hong Kong and the “pig” still squealing loudly, China has mud on its hands from one of the dirtiest election campaigns it has seen in modern times. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/s33W0 Tags: Election, Hong Kong, Pig, Vote, Wolf Section: East Asia, Latest News
