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Fanny Wong

When Preparatory Committee vice-chairman Leung Chun-ying announced his intention to stand for the provisional legislature elections, many wondered why such a political heavyweight would take an interest in the lawmaking assembly.

  Puzzled and surprised, they concluded that Mr Leung would not be content to be just a member of the provisional body, leading to intense speculation that he is eyeing the job of president of the provisional assembly - a position with status.

   It is widely thought that if Mr Leung was after the prestigious position, the other two contenders - incumbent president of the Legislative Council Andrew Wong Wang-fat and Preparatory Committee member Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai - are most likely to be defeated.

  With Mr Leung's background as the best-trusted confidante of Beijing in Hong Kong, he should have no great difficulty grabbing the job - but he has already ruled it out; he is not interested.

  If Mr Leung indeed wants to play an influential role in the provisional assembly, he has made the right decision.

  As prestigious as the president's position is, it now only enjoys limited powers.

  Under the present model, the president can rule bills, questions or motion debates in or out of order, but the decisions must be founded in commonsense. Otherwise, they will be challenged by other members.

   Mr Wong, the incumbent president, is against changing the nature of the role, maintaining the present model of having the president as a referee to keep the house in order is preferable and proper to preserve the political neutrality of the chair.

  'That is Hong Kong's tradition, I am very happy to be the referee. I entirely disagree that the role of the president should be changed to be a policy leader, it is too much of a responsibility,' he said.

  The reason for his participating in the provisional legislature was prompted by fear that the nature of the president's role might be changed.

  But Mrs Fan, the other front-runner for the job, thinks otherwise, suggesting that the president of the provisional legislature can take up a more active role in addition to the present tradition of being only a referee.

  Mrs Fan believes that while there are similarities between the present president and the chair of the provisional legislature, there are also differences because the nature and function of the provisional body is not exactly the same as the present Legco.

  Maintenance of political neutrality in conducting meetings must be something in common between the incumbent chair and the president of the caretaker assembly.

  But Mrs Fan believes that the chair of the provisional body can also assume a more high-profile role of explaining the decisions of the assembly.

  'I think if a decision has been reached by the provisional legislature, the decision would need to be promulgated, publicised and explained, particularly if the decision was reached before July 1.

  'This is because the very first doubt in people's minds must be whether the provisional legislature has the right to do so,' said Mrs Fan.

  'If the decision happens to be fairly complicated and affects the interests of individuals, such as the right of abode issue, after the provisional legislature decides on a draft bill, the president, if necessary, should explain what the legislature has done to the public,' she said.

  Noting that there are very different views about the provisional legislature and that many people were under the impression that the provisional body was unnecessary, Mrs Fan said the president of the caretaker assembly also had to face international media and explain to the handover assembly's functions and aims.

  She sees the president as being responsible to the whole council. If members allowed the president to speak with a more collective voice and represent the provisional legislature in a stronger voice, the president could play a role in defending the work of the assembly.

  While observers may doubt the wisdom of changing the the president's role, Mrs Fan obviously believes the provisional legislature has a unique function at a unique time and therefore a changing role of the president may help to accommodate the needs of the assembly.

  She said she contested the president's seat to bring in a culture of pragmatism to the provisional assembly so that political posturing and confrontation would be a thing of the past for the legislature.

  'I think Hong Kong deserves a legislature which is accountable, responsible, effective and efficient.

  'I feel the community would like the legislature to be the role model of the community and that these people, in serving the community, are prepared to act in a very responsible and respectable manner.

  'And when we disagree, we disagree courteously and also put forward very positive suggestions,' she said.

  While she is reluctant to comment on Mr Wong's candidature, Mrs Fan, who served the Legislative Council between 1983 and 1992, conceded that the incumbent president had an edge over her in respect of experience.

  'I believe the choice is in the hands of members and no matter what decision they take, I will respect their decision,' she said, rejecting suggestions that she was encouraged by mainland officials to contest the presidential poll.

  'There hasn't been any official from Beijing or the Hong Kong-based Xinhua suggesting that I should run for the presidency of the provisional legislature.'   But observers doubt a person as cautious as Mrs Fan would have openly expressed her interest in such a high-status position without having received a signal.

  Some believe that either she is very confident about her chances of getting elected because she had secured solid backing or that she had even bigger goal in mind and the presidential election was just a warm-up for a more influential role.

    The advantage of having Mr Wong as the president is the added credibility he could bring to the provisional assembly. It is true that some people consider Mr Wong untrustworthy because he has backed down from his 1995 election pledge that he did not support the provisional legislature.

  But others who take no interest in politics may take a more simplistic view and conclude that if even the serving president of the legislature is willing to sit in the chair of the caretaker assembly, the provisional body may not be such a bad thing.

  Such a view may also be shared by the overseas audience who are not familiar with the day-to-day politics of the local scene.

  The fact that Beijing leaders had openly expressed their preference for those with legislative experience in Hong Kong to serve the provisional assembly is a reflection of China's concern about the legitimacy image of the caretaker body.

  From the public relations point of view, the only solution to this is for as many incumbent members as possible to sit on the provisional body.

  Following this logic, it would be even better that the incumbent president preside over the new body.

  Why not give the body more credibility, especially for the overseas audience, by having Mr Wong as a propaganda coup? For Beijing, should anyone cast any doubt, it could easily respond by asking whether the same people are also doubtful about the credibility of the incumbent lawmaking assembly and its president.

  Against this background, it is not at all unrealistic that Mr Wong may have a good chance of getting the job.

  The fact that Mr Wong managed 317 votes in the provisional legislature election, the same number Mrs Fan secured, is an indicator of how receptive the incumbent president is to Beijing.

  The choice is in the hands of the 60 members who will have to decide on a date for the president's election.

  That said, it does not mean that some members would not try to gauge the mood of Beijing over who is a more suitable choice for the prestigious job.

 The result may reflect Beijing's wish - or how members perceive Beijing's wish.



In the running for assembly hot seat