But Mrs Chan is unmoved, saying this week that she remained unconvinced about its merits, adding that the latest appointments had heightened her long-held fears about the damaging impact of the political appointee system on good governance.

'The system is inherently deficient. Instead of fixing it after a full review, the government refused to do so and blatantly claimed it has worked well,' she said. 'The chief executive has hand-picked another batch of appointees who are loyal and supportive of his governing philosophy. I don't know in what ways our governance has and will be strengthened.'

With universal suffrage for the chief executive still a long way off, Mrs Chan said enlarging the fleet of like-minded appointees by Donald Tsang Yam-kuen would further expand the policymaking power of the government at the expense of proper checks and balances.

'Mr Tsang is intent on demolishing the whole AO [administrative officers] structure. AOs can no longer aspire to becoming principal officials. Some of them will have to make a decision at some point of their career on whether to switch to join the fleet of political appointees,' Mrs Chan said. 'If so, they may have to bend with the wind to boost their chances of being chosen. Whether they will still be able to give honest advice on policies is in doubt.'

Dubbed the cream of the civil service, the future of the 600-strong fleet of AOs has been mired in uncertainty after the top policymaking echelon was opened wider to outsiders in 2002. Succeeding Mr Tung three years ago, Mr Tsang announced plans to install two more layers of appointees to enhance governance and groom political talent.

Speaking on the appointment of the first batch of eight undersecretaries on Tuesday last week, Mr Tsang said: 'I am impressed by their commitment and passion in serving Hong Kong. They will certainly bolster the strength and capacity of our team of political appointees.'

Although its members come from political, academic, business and media circles, doubts have been expressed about the experience and expertise of the new team, which includes nine political assistants named two days later.

A political commentator, who did not wish to be named, said: 'The eight appointees are lightweights, both in terms of their political and professional credentials. I doubt they can significantly boost the political capacity of the government.'

Unlike political assistants, people would not be prepared to give the deputies plenty of time to hone their skills through practice, the commentator said.

Pointing to the specifics of the appointments, critics have ridiculed a perceived mismatch of individual expertise and portfolios. A senior executive at the Jockey Club, Kenneth Chen Wei-on, was given the education portfolio, while political scientist Kitty Poon Kit took up environmental issues, and senior banking executive Florence Hui Hiu-fai became the closest aide to the home affairs minister. A controversy over the nationality status of at least three undersecretaries has also cast a shadow over their commitment to serving Hong Kong. Following revelations by the media that Greg So Kam-leung holds a Canadian passport, two more deputy ministers were rumoured to have acquired foreign nationality. Mr So, the undersecretary-designate for commerce and economic development, told a press conference yesterday he had renounced his Canadian citizenship in the hope of ending the political bickering and allaying public concern.

Executive director of the One Country Two Systems Economic Research Centre Cheung Chi-kong said those who held foreign nationality should give up their foreign passports. 'They are rising stars with huge political responsibility. Even some people who stood for direct elections previously had given up foreign nationality. It is not sensible to say they [the undersecretaries] don't need to give up their foreign passports. Although there's no specific requirement in the Basic Law, they should take the initiative to do the right thing.'

Mr Cheung said people had good reason to be sceptical about the skills background of some of the undersecretaries-designate. 'You have already had an environmental affairs minister who did not come from the relevant field. Environmental issues are not new. It's unimaginable we are not able to find someone with the relevant expertise to become the deputy.

'It's wrong to say the deputy and assistant ministers need only to do political work and deal with the media ... Ministers have their own press secretaries to do the job. People expect the new appointees to be able to provide substantive input to policy formulation,' he said.

A policy minister said undersecretaries who came from outside the government would help provide a different perspective in the policy formulation process.

'Civil servants are sometimes too rational,' said the minister, who preferred to remain anonymous. 'Take the case of the demolition of Queen's Pier. They would feel adamant the decision has been taken through consultation process in accordance with established procedure. They are not so sensitive to the change of public opinion.

'I would expect the undersecretaries to help make proper, clear and concise presentation of complex issues to the public for them to understand clearly what we plan to do. I would also expect they have a better grasp of the possible public reaction to policies after they are made public.

'Yes, they lack political experience. They are guinea pigs. So were we when we took up the post of political appointee ... Our political system is unique and riddled with deficiencies. We can only learn, like crossing the river by feeling the stones,' he said.

Another minister said: 'The undersecretaries have their own skill sets. Their participation in policy formulation will make the process more solid and comprehensive ... There're also a lot of stakeholders in each policy area. Civil servants may not want to do the political work. That's where the deputies and assistants can come in.'

Under the accountability system, undersecretaries will be paid HK$193,773 to HK$223,586 a month, and 13 political assistants will earn HK$104,340 to HK$163,963. There have been concerns that the undersecretaries - who have the task of defending policies in public, facing the legislature and directing the civil service - would be in conflict with the civil service led by permanent secretaries in individual bureaus.

'The most important thing is for the undersecretaries and assistants to work as a team with the civil servants,' the first minister said. 'Civil servants have their own work style. There needs to be a transition period for them to learn to work with each other.'

Associate professor at City University's department of public and social administration, Ray Yep Kin-man, said the old system of government by consultation no longer worked in the face of rapid changes in civil society. It was therefore critically important for the new tier of appointees to engage various stakeholders and build up their own networks in civil society. This would improve policymaking, he said. 'The biggest problem [with the latest appointments] is that there are not a lot of new faces who are active in civil society, are able to forge dialogue with the stakeholders on the basis of trust,' Dr Yep said.

The first batch of eight undersecretaries, he said, was being seen as close to the establishment.

Dr Yep said he supported in principle the idea of a political appointees system. 'Six years on, as it moves into a new stage, the system should be made more open for a wider range of people to help enrich the policy process. The latest appointments show the old-style appointment system still prevails. The overall outlook of the new appointees makes little difference from the present face of the government. It fails to give a feeling of freshness. It's disappointing.'

He said new cabinet appointments were supposed to boost the popularity of the government. 'I don't think the government can gain extra points from the latest appointments. It's a missed opportunity.'

Dr Yep fears the government's overly cautious approach, if not entrenched bias against people with dissenting views, would send a bad message among people who wanted to serve the administration.

'Some people will be scared away if they feel the government posts are only open to certain political groups ... The government has the power to choose their appointees. People being approached may say no if they feel they may not be able to do what they want after joining the government.'