Carrie Lam's holiday angers students
Chief secretary accused of evading protests and failing in her duties as she takes leave at same time as class boycott for democracy
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is under fire after it was revealed she would be on holiday while students stage a class boycott in protest at Beijing's decision to severely limit nominations for the 2017 chief executive election.
Boycott organiser the Federation of Students had asked Lam, as leader of the government's political reform drive, to address the public during a series of gatherings to mark the boycott at Tamar Park in Admiralty from Tuesday to Friday next week.
However, the government announced yesterday that Lam would take five days of leave from Wednesday, returning days before an October 1 pro-democracy rally planned by the Civil Human Rights Front.
Both the strikes and the rally are seen as precursors to the Occupy Central blockade of the business hub, which is expected to happen soon, after the central government set parameters pan-democrats say will prevent a real choice of candidates in 2017.
Alex Chow Yong-kang, the federation's secretary general, said Lam's vacation at a time of heightened political tension was an attempt to evade protesters.
"It's not like we've only just announced the class boycotts … yet still she decides to take a vacation," Chow said yesterday. "Clearly she intends to shy away from students and her responsibilities."
A spokesman for Lam did not respond last night when asked whether she would remain in Hong Kong during her holiday or attend student gatherings.
Meanwhile, Chow said the federation was negotiating with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department to ease safety and noise-related limits on the use of the park; the main sticking point was the insistence that the park only be used on three days.
Front convenor Johnson Yeung Ching-yin said his group was still looking for an alternative starting point after the department ruled out Victoria Park in Causeway Bay due to National Day celebrations. Yeung insisted the rally would go ahead regardless, and criticised police for delaying issuing the "letter of no objection" needed for the event to be legal.
The Catholic political reform concern group - led by Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun - yesterday urged pan-democrats not to settle for an imperfect reform plan but to fight. A one man, one vote election under an unfair system would not enhance the legitimacy of the government, it added, and the city's core values would be eroded if its leaders were chosen by Beijing. "We already have nothing to lose," the group said in an article. "Now it's time to abandon illusions and to mobilise a campaign [against Beijing's model for reform]."
Meanwhile, about 20 pupils from two Tseung Kwan O schools protested yesterday, complaining that their schools had pressed them not to publicise a one-day class boycott next Friday.
Leo Wong, a Form Five pupil at HKMLC Queen Maud Secondary School, said pupils had been barred from handing out leaflets or making speeches in assembly.
But headmaster Yeung Ching-han said pupils would not be penalised for joining the boycott if they had parental permission, and had been given space to discuss and promote the protest. The other school, Catholic Ming Yuen Secondary School, could not be reached for comment.
