Further ministerial layers will just add insult to injury
On the face of it, the installation of two more layers of ministerial packaging as a further development of the political appointment system sounds a natural step forward for the accountability system that was introduced in 2002.
In money terms, an increase of 22 new posts at a price tag up of to $60 million a year is minimal compared with the huge spending on salaries for the 160,000-strong bureaucracy.
But set against the background of a shifting political landscape, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's initiative to broaden the layers of political appointees is bound to be greeted by doubt and cynicism.
Now that he has made clear who his friends and foes are, doubters have good reason to deem the proposals as a tailor-made training programme for government-friendly parties such as the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong and its young members.
As officials have plainly said before, the new appointees must share the visions and ideas of the chief executive and his or her team, which means the door for the pan-democratic force, branded by Mr Tsang as opposition, has effectively been closed.
There is also a big question mark over whether the package will be attractive enough for high-fliers in the administrative service to forsake a stable civil service career for the volatilities and ugliness of political life.
It seems unbelievable that professionals and business executives in their mid-term careers would be tempted to venture into the Nowhereland of politics.
The goal of creating more opportunities for talent to participate in policymaking sounds grandiose. Sceptics will view the whole initiative as an early move by Mr Tsang to build a ruling coalition by buying in like-minded political parties after he gets re-elected next year.
While bringing about drastic changes to the relationship between the government and political parties, the creation of more political posts looks set to create more uncertainty over the system of administrative officers.
Hailed as the cream of the bureaucracy, the 500-odd administrative officers are in danger of being further sidelined and their roles blurred in an increasingly politicised environment.
The possible profound, negative impact on policymaking should not be taken lightly in the midst of the hype of grooming political talent.
