Hong Kong's divisive leader, Carrie Lam, announced on Monday that she will not run for a second five-year term, ending her 42-year political career.
Lam presided over the city during its most politically turbulent years, which included the often-violent 2019 protests, the implementation of the National Security Law and most recently, her government's haphazard response to an omicron variant surge that took more than 8,000 lives since January.
The chief executive said she informed Beijing at last year's annual National People's Congress meeting in March that she wouldn't be running again. Lam oversaw the implementation of a controversial security law that quashed dissent in the former British colony. A widespread crackdown on activism followed. Pro-democracy media outletsand most opposition figures are now in jail or in self-exile. Lam faced U.S. sanctions for her role in the crackdown.
When taking up the post back in 2017, Lam -- a devout Catholic -- said that God had called upon her:"From day one, I have said this opportunity is given by God."
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