Opinion | Leung's uninspired policy address should disappoint his supporters
Albert Cheng says his housing policies were nothing new, and proposals to alleviate poverty were either non-existent or too vague
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying survived the bid at the Legislative Council last week to impeach him, but the attempt was a historic first. The 27 pan-democratic lawmakers who supported the bid will be fondly remembered for trying to make a difference.
Of course, we did not have an option to impeach the governors under British colonial rule.
After the handover in 1997, even though the people of Hong Kong were quite displeased with the performance of the previous two chief executives - Tung Chee-hwa and Donald Tsang Yam-kuen - it never occurred to the pan-democratic camp that there was a need to force them out of office. The most they did was to move a motion of no confidence to voice their discontent. They knew impeachment was a last, powerful resort that should not be abused.
With regard to Leung, the pan-democratic lawmakers had no choice but to respond to widespread public outrage. The pro-government lawmakers who voted against the impeachment showed blatant disregard for public opinion.
Beijing's top representative in Hong Kong, Zhang Xiaoming , recently told the media that Leung had the central government's backing. But his explicit backing of Leung was a symbolic gesture more than anything else.
At the Legco meeting over the impeachment motion last week, a number of pro-government lawmakers inadvertently showed their true colours.