Forgotten lessons
When Tung Chee-hwa introduced the ministerial system in 2002, he named it the accountability system to underline that these ministers would assume personal responsibility for their policy failures or personal misdemeanours. Before then, senior civil servants involved in major blunders had been immune from punishment because of their permanent tenure and the protection of collective responsibility.
Last year, when Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen proposed two additional layers in the ministerial system, namely, undersecretaries and political assistants, there was no major dissenting voice. This was because the public had seen the departure of a number of ministers in the Tung era for failing to measure up to expectations. People were generally satisfied that the accountability part of the system was working.
But public confidence has clearly been shaken in the past few months. According to monthly surveys conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, the public's approval rating of the accountability system, which stood at 57 points in May this year, fell to 48.4 points in July and remained at 48 points last month. Let's examine this phenomenon against the backdrop of how accountability affected the first generation of ministers and in the light of how the present administration reacts to public criticism.
Frederick Ma Si-hang, the former secretary for commerce and economic development who recently left the government with a high popularity rating, was the first victim under the accountability system. Shortly after his appointment as secretary for financial services and the treasury, in July 2002, he was criticised by legislators and the public for failing to exercise due diligence in handling the proposal to delist 'penny stocks'. Although a panel of inquiry did not fault him, he nevertheless accepted political responsibility and made a public apology with a deep bow. This act of humility helped him win public acceptance and he moved on to become a popular minister.
Antony Leung Kam-chung was a popular financial secretary until March 2003 when it was revealed that he had purchased a car before his budget, in which the first registration tax on vehicles was increased. In admitting this 'oversight', he offered to resign. In the reply, made public, Mr Tung criticised Mr Leung for 'gross negligence' but concluded that it didn't warrant his resignation. Mr Tung reminded him that he had an important task ahead: to secure the passage of the budget. Mr Leung withdrew his resignation and made a public apology.
But legislators, the media and the public remained unforgiving and raised this integrity issue from time to time. In July 2003, he tendered his resignation again, saying it was 'good timing' to leave as the budget had been passed, among other things. This time, it was accepted.
In fact, Mr Tung lost the service of two ministers on one day, as Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, the secretary for security, also announced her resignation for 'personal reasons'. While she had submitted her resignation before half a million people marched in protest against the proposed Article 23 national security legislation, it would be reasonable to say that the crisis strengthened her resolve to go.
A year later, in July 2004, health chief Yeoh Eng-kiong resigned after the Legislative Council select committee on severe acute respiratory syndrome released a report criticising the government over the handling of this deadly epidemic.
Fast forward to the recent months of the Tsang era. He apologised for the fact that 'the arrangements [in announcing the political appointments] did not fully meet public expectations'. But public criticism went much further; to more fundamental issues such as undersecretaries holding foreign passports, the transparency of selecting the appointees, and the high salaries paid to some. The government stood its ground: none of the accountable officials involved in the appointments admitted any mistakes and there was no record of any of them making an apology.
When the implementation of the levy suspension on foreign domestic helpers, and its last-minute changes, was roundly criticised for its confusion and divisiveness, no accountable minister issued an apology.
In another case, Denise Yue Chung-yee, secretary for the civil service, apologised for not considering former permanent secretary for housing, planning and lands Leung Chin-man's involvement in the Hung Hom Peninsula development before approving his application to join New World. Mr Tsang considered this an adequate act of accountability and said that her resignation was not warranted.
The memory of fallen ministers helps to remind the present generation of political appointees of the perils of accountability. The recent decline in the approval rating of the accountability system may be due to the public's displeasure over the government's handling of various issues. Or, it may be a reaction to the perceived unwillingness of Mr Tsang or his ministers to accept responsibility for the unsatisfactory performance. It is for the government to draw its own conclusions.
Yet, as long as the public remembers previous ministers' acts of accountability, they will expect, or demand, no less in similar circumstances. When the time comes, Mr Tsang and his accountable officials will have to make a judgment on an appropriate sanction and accept its consequences.
Joseph Wong Wing-ping, formerly secretary for the civil service, is currently an adjunct professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong
