By Jimmy Cheung
Tung Chee-hwa's new team has given itself a glowing report on the performance of the ministerial system, brought in last July to improve the government's accountability to the public.
But critics say the assessment, the first to be produced, has sought to hide mistakes and failed to address the key questions of how to make officials accountable for their blunders.
Among the achievements listed in the six-month report card is $75 million in savings by merging bureaus and departments.
Measures to stabilise the property market, and the target of keeping public spending at $200 billion by 2006-07 are also cited as some of the examples where the appointees have responded quickly on issues related to their portfolios.
The ministerial system was introduced when the chief executive replaced top civil servants with political appointees.