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Hong Kong justice minister won’t commit to full five years in Carrie Lam’s new cabinet
Incumbent’s comments raise questions about whether the chief executive-elect’s team was an ideal line-up
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Uncertainties were already looming over the unity of incoming leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s cabinet on Wednesday, as her justice chief did not commit on finishing a second five-year term, while her financial secretary dodged questions on whether he was her first choice.
The remarks by Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung and Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, two of Lam’s top three ministers, raised questions about whether the team was the chief executive-elect’s ideal line-up.
Since Lam won the city’s top job on March 26, it has been widely reported that she wanted former Bar Association chairwoman Winnie Tam Wan-chi for justice secretary and Rex Auyeung Pak-kuen, Asia chairman of a United States-based insurance firm, for financial chief.
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After Yuen was tipped to be reappointed, there were then reports suggesting he would leave next year after sorting out law enforcement issues dogging the city’s cross-border railway project.
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Yuen would not confirm this on Wednesday. He would only say: “Time is not the most crucial consideration. From my perspective, what is important is that as long as I remain the secretary for justice, I will do my best to discharge my duties.”
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