Opinion | When Hong Kong’s three worst-performing ministers have survived, accountability is dead and buried

The ministerial reshuffle announced in late April by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was received with a mixture of indifference and cynicism. After all, most people thought Lam herself should have been the first to go rather than the five who actually lost their jobs (one of whom was moved sideways to an equivalent position).

Yet the real significance of the exercise may have been missed: it effectively marked the death of the system of ministerial accountability.

To reflect their status, and the fact that they are responsible for everything that happens in their policy areas, the ministers are very well paid. Their monthly salaries now exceed HK$300,000 – that’s over HK$10,000 per day, the one-off sum we are all getting to revive the economy.

Among the other ministers, the performance of Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah and Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu during the extradition bill saga clearly merited dismissal, yet they survived the cull.

Both had failed to stand up to their boss’ unwise demand to draft and force through controversial extradition legislation, without sufficient consultation and bypassing standard legislative scrutiny. Lee had, in addition, simply lost control of the police force.