Leung Chun-ying can't get away with relying on smart rhetoric forever, lawmakers and academics said after the new chief executive failed to impress on his debut question-and-answer session with lawmakers.
They accused Leung of playing with words rather than addressing questions - with perhaps the most flagrant example coming in an exchange with independent pan-democrat Andrew Cheng Kar-foo.
Leung first refused to answer Cheng's question about illegal structures at his home on The Peak, citing a court case challenging his election as chief executive on the grounds that he misled voters.
'I am a lawyer ... I feel your rejection absurd because the court is still deciding whether to take the case,' Cheng fired back.
'There is no reason you cannot answer this: did you build the flower bed after you had moved into your home?'
Leung replied: 'Cheng just mentioned a 'flower bed', his description was problematic - no 'flower bed' was involved in the whole incident.'
A trellis, rather than a flower bed, has been at the heart of questions about whether illegal structures at the house had been installed by Leung or the previous owner. But Leung did not address the question any further.