The executive

With the election of Leung Chun-ying as the fourth chief executive (CE) of the Hong Kong Special Admininstration Region (HKSAR), the people of Hong Kong are keen to have a new government with policy visions and leadership. This public expectation is running high because Hong Kong has been suffering from a seris of critical and deep-seated socio-economic problems: the polarization of wealth, low social mobility, the subtraction of public (government) services, and so on. The inability of the HKSAR governments to address these problems has its roots in the governing system in general and the institutional design for selecting the CE and forming the executive in particular. This chapter therefore first examines the establishment and functions of the executive of the HKSAR, and then the way the CE and the executive govern, and their interaction with the Legislative Council (Legco) in terms of general policy-making and budgetary decision-making processes. Lastly, various challenges faced by the executive are considered.