Hong Kong has been through a shocking few weeks as the chief executive election campaign degenerated into chaos and mud-slinging. No doubt there will be more damaging allegations. This doesn't bode well.
Past chief executives have shied away from difficult choices. The government has done all the easy things, like big infrastructure projects, and has made improvements in education and welfare policies, consumer protection and various other areas. Leung Chun-ying will have to tackle difficult reform options in areas without a 'consensus'.
What worries me is that, after all the personal fighting, he will have too little credibility to do the job. Some scandals highlighted in the campaign were more serious than others, while some of the smears were more convincing than others. But mud sticks. There will be no honeymoon period. Leung will, quite possibly, have a weaker mandate than his predecessors. He needs a stronger one.
I know mud-flinging is part of democracy. Candidates in American presidential primaries insult each other yet somehow emerge with their reputations intact. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton employed dirty tricks against each other at times, before becoming a winning - and even apparently happy - team as US president and secretary of state.
However, there are major differences. The US electoral system, though perhaps imperfect, is accepted by the people. Ours is not, especially after this campaign. A real competition has forced candidates to focus on public opinion, yet the public does not vote; what is the role of the Election Committee in this situation?
And US culture enjoys a fight and allows everyone to be friends afterwards. Hong Kong has never seen such open bitterness between members of the pro-establishment camp, and it is hard to see how some backing the two main candidates will be able to speak to one another again. Against this backdrop, Leung must either let Hong Kong stagnate, or make some big, controversial decisions. Consider some examples. Housing has become unaffordable for a large part of the population. Even if you can afford to buy, the price will seriously cut your spending power.
As well as hurting buyers, that affects the rest of our economy. But, existing home owners like high prices. Leung needs to decide whether to make real changes to land and related policies to increase affordability - or carry on forcing people to pay very high prices. Either way, he will probably make enemies.
