NGOs urge Tung to take action against Michael Wong and allow Legco to get to the bottom of the controversies
A coalition of more than 60 non-governmental organisations want the chief executive to suspend Michael Wong Kin-chow pending a public inquiry into the controversies surrounding the embattled EOC chairman.
The groups, which last week demanded that Mr Wong resign, said yesterday they were not asking for Tung Chee-hwa to dismiss him based on allegations alone. But they said it was inappropriate for him to remain chairman given his loss of credibility with the NGO community.
The Society for Community Organisation, Human Rights Monitor, Civil Human Rights Front, the Women's Coalition and the Movement Against Discrimination were among the groups that issued the call for the suspension of Mr Wong, a retired judge, who took up his position on August 1.
'We urge the government to suspend him and let the Legislative Council conduct an inquiry first,' Law Yuk-kai, of Human Rights Monitor, said. 'Based on very high standards and the results of the inquiry, it can then be recommended whether he is fit for the job. We are not asking the chief executive to sack the head of an independent statutory body without reason.'
The coalition also demanded a full explanation of Mr Wong's sacking of senior Equal Opportunities Commission officer Patrick Yu Chung-yin. Mr Wong is due to appear before Legco's home affairs panel on Friday.
Mak Hoi-wah, of the Movement Against Discrimination, outlined the 'seven sins committed by Michael Wong'. They are his 'dictatorial attitude, unfair dismissal of Mr Yu, allegations of accepting advantages as a judicial officer, suspected violation of the Privacy Ordinance for revealing information about another candidate for Mr Yu's post, continuing to receive his judicial pension, lack of communication skills with the media and destroying the credibility of the EOC'.