Buck for Hong Kong ministers does not stop with bosses, chief executive hopeful Carrie Lam says
Former chief secretary was speaking in response to her criticism of the education system even though the minister had reported to her for past five years
Ministers should be held accountable for their policies, not their bosses, chief executive hopeful Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said.
The former chief secretary was speaking on Saturday in response to her criticism of the education system even though the minister responsible had reported to her for the past five years.
“All officials under the accountability system are nominated by the chief executive and appointed by the central people’s government. There is no subordinative relationship among them,” Lam said in a Cable TV interview. She has publicly criticised education policy as “problematic” during her campaign, and vowed to “comprehensively review the whole system”.
“Many people think there are nine ministers who report to me, and I am the boss of them. I am afraid it is not like that,” Lam said.
“If a minister purely follows the instructions of the chief secretary, is it really fair for him to accept the consequences if the policy goes wrong,?”
In response to the comments from Lam, who is the perceived front runner, rival and former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said: “Every senior government official should be responsible for all the policies.”
