Curtain falls on lengthy saga but stage still set for political fallout

The marathon HarbourFest saga looks set to make fresh political waves in the wake of the High Court ruling in favour of InvestHK chief Mike Rowse in his fight against civil service disciplinary action over his handling of the event five years ago.

The outcome will embarrass the chief executive, to put it mildly.

Coming on the heels of controversy over the government's new political appointees, the ruling will do more damage to the government's image and authority.

Specifically, questions about the system of internal disciplinary hearings thrown up by yesterday's ruling has put the long-established system in doubt. Worse, the ruling will deepen the perception of many within the civil service and in society at large that the disciplinary proceedings against Mr Rowse were politically motivated and aimed at pinning blame on a senior official in order to defuse political pressure.

The air of conspiracy is likely to grow thicker in light of a revelation made during Mr Rowse's judicial review hearing in February of a controversial move by the chief secretary, Henry Tang Ying-yen - who was then financial secretary - at an internal meeting about the HarbourFest.

Before a 2004 inquiry into the HarbourFest, Mr Tang requested that remarks made by him about Mr Rowse's role be deleted from the minutes of a meeting.