Public will get no say on cabinet shake-up
There will be no public consultation on the controversial restructuring of the cabinet proposed by chief executive-elect Leung Chun-ying, the head of his transition office says.
Any delay to the reorganisation before Leung takes office on July 1 could affect the choice of ministers, said Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun (pictured).
Leung would, however, seek opinions on the changes in meetings with the 18 district council chairmen and civil servants, as well as in the Legislative Council, Law said.
'Do we have to change our choice of ministers if they have to wait for half a year [for the restructuring to be implemented]?' she said at RTHK's City Forum yesterday. '[It would] affect the continuity of policies.'
Amid mounting calls from pan-democratic lawmakers and academics for a thorough scrutiny of the proposed shake-up, Law continued to explain the planned new set-up, in which deputy posts will be created for both the chief secretary and the financial secretary.
Law said that on 'general matters', the bureau chiefs would report only to those deputies.
'There will not be another layer of bureaucracy in the restructuring plan, as the bureau heads only need to report up to the deputies. For general matters, it is not a must to go to the chief secretary and financial secretary,' she said.
'The chief secretary will still host the weekly policy meetings, which all bureau chiefs will attend to report the important issues,' said Law.
The suspension of a Legco session last Wednesday for lack of a quorum as pan-democrats boycotted a debate on changes to the by-election rules raised the possibility that Leung's plans could be subject to delaying tactics.
Pro-government lawmakers said they now plan to rotate in shifts to ensure a quorum. However, Legco president Tsang Yok-sing said he thought that might prove difficult.
On Wednesday, the legislature will continue to vet the government's bill to scrap Legco by-elections, to which the radical People Power party has filed about 1,400 amendments in an attempt at a filibuster.
Meanwhile, speaking to Tung Chung residents yesterday, Leung said he saw the new town in Lantau as 'a testing ground' for district administration.
'There should be government departments stationed in the district to solve local issues and understand the local economy,' he added.
Leung also said he wanted to see more economic activity in Tung Chung and better transport links.
