When the Legislative Council began a new four-year term last October, it was seen as an opportunity to rebuild a healthy working relationship with the executive arm. Regrettably, the tension and hostility lingered on. Nine months later, the replacement of Leung Chun-ying by Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor as chief executive has again rekindled such hopes, although the prospect of improvement appears to be increasingly unlikely in the wake of recent political controversies.

Outraged by the disqualification of another four members, the pan-democratic camp understandably found it hard to endorse Lam’s HK$3.6 billion funding boost for education. They finally did, after much wrangling at the Finance Committee on Wednesday. The item was only put to a vote in the final moments of a marathon session that aimed to clear a backlog of funding requests before the summer recess. Members also approved another two requests, leaving five items outstanding, including pay rises for 170,000 civil servants and other public works programmes. Approval will be sought again when Legco resumes in October.

The outcome does not bode well for Lam. The approval of the education initiatives – including an annual HK$30,000 subsidy to students taking full-time self-financing tertiary courses and permanent jobs for 2,350 teachers, was probably out of concerns over a possible public backlash rather than a gesture of political goodwill. The message for Lam is clear. Even though the disqualification saga was initiated by her predecessor, it cannot be “business as usual”.