Making room at the top
During his election campaign, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, now chief executive, made various proposals for the improvement of governance, including the creation of the new post of assistant to a principal official.
The thinking behind the idea, apparently, was not that principal officials - ministers - need assistants: they do, and they have them. Rather, this move would help to foster a new group of young people who would then move up to more senior positions: perhaps becoming legislators, principal officials or even, conceivably, chief executive.
It is an interesting idea, but it needs to be carefully thought through. It is not clear, for example, whether these young people will only be assistants or whether they will be equivalent to junior ministers. And, if so, whether they would be responsible when the minister in charge is ill or away from Hong Kong.
If so, it is likely to create problems with that bureau's permanent secretary. After all, the permanent secretaries are people at the highest levels of the civil service and are, without exception, experienced and mature people. Would it be wise to have a 30-year-old trainee politician supervise a 50-year-old senior official? Wouldn't that make senior civil service positions less attractive and deter talented and capable people from joining the service?
There is actually no shortage of political talent. Many people in the Legislative Council are well qualified to serve as principal officials, but the system is such that they cannot be appointed because they are seen as part of the opposition.
Currently, legislative councillors have assistants who are in many ways similar to the congressional aides one finds in the United States. They are usually bright young people who are idealistic and who work for relatively low pay.
In their jobs as assistants to legislators, they learn a great deal about the functioning of the government, and they can move into government service in the future. A number have already joined the ranks of administrative officers.
Is it really necessary to give young, relatively inexperienced people who are learning the ropes directorate-level positions and pay each of them more than $1 million a year? And since the idea is to train politicians, is it right to take people from the pro-government political parties and put them into these key posts, while leaving members of other political parties out in the cold?
Currently, the chief executive is meant to be above politics, or at least to be non-political. Even principal officials are meant to be politically neutral. In due course, Hong Kong will have to move to a system whereby the chief executive represents - or at least has the support of - the biggest political party in the legislature. Before that happens, it is important to foster an environment under which political parties can develop and mature.
Before a political party culture is in place, it would be awkward to appoint politicians to serve as assistants to ministers who are non-political. Since by definition the two do not share the same political values, how could one assist the other?
Moreover, there is the question of fairness. These assistants will all be paid from the public purse. This means that all political parties should benefit equally from any scheme to cultivate political talent. And yet it is almost inconceivable that the government would treat pro-government parties and the opposition with an even hand in the distribution of largesse.
Perhaps Mr Tsang has considered all of these questions and has answers ready. If so, let's hear them.
Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based writer and commentator
