Democratic Party backs budget plan in rare show of support for Hong Kong’s finance chief
While this would be first time they vote in favour of bill during CY Leung’s tenure, Democrats stop short of backing John Tsang in coming chief executive race
The Democratic Party sent a strong political message on Thursday by offering its rare support to the latest budget by Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, whom they say knows better than the city’s chief how to mend Hong Kong’s deep-rooted conflicts.
This would be the first time the Democrats have voted for the appropriation bill since Leung Chun-ying took on the chief executive role in 2012.
Democrat lawmaker Wu Chi-wai said his party decided to back the budget after a thorough discussion because Tsang had made a considerable long-term investment and adopted the right approach in addressing social conflicts.
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“The budget might not be perfect in terms of public policy, but at least it has taken the first step, such as allocating HK$200 billion [to] medical services,” he said.
“In portraying the rifts in the city, [Tsang], as the government No 2, also expressed his hope to ditch confrontation and locate the core of the problems, instead of putting all the blame on the so-called radicals ... [his approach] should be acknowledged in the political sense,” Wu added.
Party colleague Sin Chung-kai said: “People of Hong Kong are angry with what [Leung] has been doing – confronting different sectors of the society – while the financial secretary would like to heal the wounds.”
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Acknowledging the political nature of their decision, the Democrats however stopped short of backing Tsang to contest the chief executive election next year.