Incumbent Tung Chee-hwa was nominated by the 800-member Election Committee (EC) without contest despite his declining popularity.

The pro-democracy camp argued that the electoral process was deliberately designed to obstruct any challenge to Tung.

Under the Principal Officials Accountability System introduced by Tung Chee-hwa in July 2002, there were 3 Secretaries of Department and 11 Directors of Bureau.

Two major officials under serve criticisms resigned during the political crisis in July 2003: Financial Secretary Antony Leung resigned in July after the "Lexusgate" scandal and Secretary for Security Regina Ip after the controversial Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 legislation.

Tung allied himself with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) and the Liberal Party,[1] by appointing chairmen of the Liberal Party and DAB, James Tien and Jasper Tsang Yok-sing to the Executive Council to form a "ruling alliance.