Ming Pao Editorial: HK needs a new political system

 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE (CE) Tung Chee-hwa has resumed his relationship with the Liberal Party by appointing Selina Chow, its vice chairperson, to the Executive Council (Exco). She has filled the seat left vacant by James Tien, its chairman, who "rebelled" and resigned. The central government has invited a Liberal Party delegation to Beijing to show that it would bury the hatchet and encourage the party to continue to "escort" the SAR government.

 

The Liberal Party has returned to the fold. Does that mean the SAR government will enjoy such staunch support in the Legislative Council (Legco) that it can smoothly implement its policies? Not necessarily. Our political system is so tattered and there are such complex executive- legislature contradictions that tinkering with it will not do the trick. The only solution is to conduct sweeping constitutional reviews, expand democratic elections and develop party politics.

 

The central government having taken measure after measure to support Hong Kong and the SAR government having withdrawn the Article 23 bill, the CE's popularity has sharply rebounded to where it was early this year. However, the crisis of governance facing Hong Kong remains, though things are now slightly less stormy. There are three aspects of the crisis of governance.

 

1. The CE has no popular mandate, nor has any of his "accountability officials". They are inherently deficient in acceptability and have no authority to control the mammoth, complex executive.

 

2. The CE is not supported by any party, nor is any of his "accountability officials". The administration has no steady majority support in Legco. Bills or motions for appropriations may not go through unless they are entirely uncontroversial.

 

3. The CE has no political experience, nor has any of his "accountability officials". Poor readers of public sentiment, they are liable to misjudge the people's wishes. Their decisions are often challenged by the media and the public.

 

In mid 2002, the CE implemented what is called the "accountability system" and appointed James Tien (chairman of the Liberal Party) and Tsang Yok-sing (chairman of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB)) to Exco. Then people expected the government would form a ruling coalition with the two parties to make up for cabinet members' political deficiencies and, by sharing power with them, obtain their legislators' support.

 

One year later, James Tien quit Exco over Article 23 legislation. The day before yesterday, Liberal Party vice-chairperson Mariam Lau openly said the government often sent papers to Exco members on a Saturday and had them rubber - stamp its proposals three days later at a meeting on the following Tuesday. In her view, if that remains the case, the eight Liberal Party lawmakers may not vote in favour of the administration, and Selina Chow may not sit on Exco long. DAB vice-chairman Ip Kwok-him has said the government has continued the colonial idea of appointment by forming its own policy committee and snubbing non-official Exco members. If the government wants the ruling coalition to succeed, it ought to have such respect for political parties' views that they believe they have a hand in government business.

 

Obviously, the so-called "ruling coalition" is nothing more than a loose, expedient combination. The CE has no intention whatsoever of sharing power with representatives of political parties, nor has any of his "accountability officials". They only want to make political deals with them occasionally. This being the case, the top echelons of the government, having no popular mandate, will continue to lack steady support. Having no prospect of playing a part in policy making, political parties holding legislative seats will continue to oppose government proposals. There being no way citizens can bring about a change of government through elections, Hong Kong remains likely to see massive demonstrations. Under the existing political system, internal strife will persist. Members of the elite would shy away from going into politics. Few capable young people having lofty ideals would be prepared to do so. How will Hong Kong have competent politicians or officials? How can the Hong Kong people continue to run Hong Kong?

 

Tinkering with the system would no longer help matters. The massive July 1 march exposed all the problems of the political system that had remained hidden. Some scholars of politics say that, though we live in the 21st century, our political system is structurally similar to the 19th century colonial system of government and lags far behind the times. The later we review our political system, the more dearly we will have to pay.

 

September 24, 2003