Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen put governance at the forefront of his policy address. So far, media attention has focused on the expansion of the Executive Council and the Commission on Strategic Development, the reorganisation of the Chief Executive's Office, and the strengthening of the policy co-ordination role of the chief secretary.
Mr Tsang also mentioned improving district-level work, though this has attracted less public interest - which in itself reflects the current quagmire. First established as district boards in the early 1980s, as part of a two-pronged district administration scheme, district councils are elected bodies that are essentially advisory in nature, with very limited powers. That has led some councillors to dub them 'chicken ribs' - tasteless when eaten but a pity to throw away.
For a while, district councils were promoted as the foundation of the so-called three-tier system of representative government, linked to municipal councils and the Legislative Council. But their limited role and influence was soon exposed. In 1999, the administration scrapped the two municipal councils but did little to empower district councils, as had been promised. With little prospect of promotion, the post of district councillor is almost a dead end.
The other prong of district administration was the district management committee, created to facilitate cross-departmental co-ordination in delivering services. The position of district officer - who chaired the committee - was upgraded to directorate level to provide senior leadership. Two decades later, however, the district administration scheme is stagnant.
Now Mr Tsang proposes to strengthen the role of both district officers and district councils. The direction must be right, not only because of the inadequacies of the existing system, but also due to the indispensable role of these institutions in community-building and participative governance. What matters is how he does it.
Upgrading the district officer further may not solve the problem unless there is a clear policy on district administration - making it an overarching framework in which various service-delivery departments have to fit. The district officer should become, in effect, the government's chief executive officer at the district level. Both the functional status and capacity of the district management committee need to be reviewed.
