Carrie Lam tries to shed ‘CY 2.0’ label with final manifesto, but old complaints prove hard to shake

While chief executive contender Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has declared that sound policies by the current government should be carried forward, she appears determined to shake off the label of “CY 2.0”, if her full manifesto is any guide.

Watch: Carrie Lam presents her manifesto

Analysts believed Lam, the former government No 2 official, seen as being too close to the unpopular Leung, was eager to boost her popularity, citing her plan to reform the government’s Central Policy Unit (CPU) think tank, abolish the controversial Territory-wide System Assessment for Primary Three pupils and use MTR dividends to subsidise fares.

Chung Kim-wah, a political scientist at Polytechnic University, said: “In a sense, it is a wise move for Lam to effectively fold the CPU. The organisation has lost its credibility after Leung Chun-ying expanded its role to vet people entering government advisory committees.”

Lam has also wanted the unit be restructured to become a “policy and project co-ordination unit”, which former CPU head Professor Lau Siu-kai saw as transforming CPU into an elite group that served the chief executive and his or her top aides.

“It will become sort of a special assistant to the chief executive,” Lau said.

Cheung Chor-yung, assistant head of City University’s department of public policy and a former member of the CPU also approved of Lam’s call to strip the unit of its power to screen appointees to government consultative bodies.