Despite being part of the pro-government camp, the Liberal Party and Hong Kong SAR government is not extremely friendly. Its chairman James Tien's resignation from the Executive Council in 2003 forced the government to back down from legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law, which ultimately accelerated the downfall of the Tung Chee-hwa administration. It has remained critical of the government of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying who won in the 2012 chief executive election, which the Liberal Party supported Leung's rival Henry Tang and cast blank votes instead of voting for Leung. Due to its history of rebelling against the government, it is also seen as maverick in the pro-Beijing camp.