People have doubted the wisdom and the motives of Chief Secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang's high-profile declaration that she would not stand for election as chief executive of the Special Administrative Region (SAR).
They say it is right for those who have joined the fray to make a declaration and those deciding against should have no need to issue a statement.
So Mrs Chan's weekend statement, which spelled out the qualities of the chief executive she and the civil service were looking for, was unusual.
Critics said that by doing so, Mrs Chan made a grave mistake and compromised the political neutrality of the civil service, a tradition that has contributed to the administration's efficiency.
On the surface, this criticism is valid. But if Hong Kong people look back to what has happened since China and Britain were locked in a dispute over the civil service's transition, can anyone say that its political neutrality has been well-preserved? By arguing whether Mrs Chan was right critics are taking a rather simplistic view of the civil service's transition. It risks missing the real issue - how the civil service, especially the elite officers who form the backbone of the administration, sees its future.
A key question to be addressed by the future chief executive is his relationship with the civil service.
How is he going to relate to his top aides, the handful of principal officials and the machinery collectively? From the list of applicants, there is no doubt that all are alienated from the routine operation of the civil service, notwithstanding the fact that retired judges, Yang Ti Liang and Simon Li Fook-sean have been part of the establishment and businessmen Tung Chee-hwa and Peter Woo Kwong-ching have served in high-powered government advisory bodies.