Former Legco president Jasper Tsang tells his successor that building trust is ‘crucial’
Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen asked what it takes to be successful in the role
The Legislative Council president should make good use of his first month of work to build mutual trust with his colleagues as that could determine their working relationship for the rest of the term.
That was the advice from former Legco chief Jasper Tsang Yok-sing to Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, who has been endorsed by the pro-establishment camp to succeed the post.
Leung’s victory over the Democratic Party’s James To Kun-sun for the top job is all but guaranteed due to the camp’s majority in the 70-strong legislature. But his functional constituency background as well as his hardline approach have drawn heavy criticism from pan-democrats and even his own allies.
In a sharing session by Tsang on Tuesday, Leung, the ex-chairman of house committee and former acting president of the council when Tsang was away, asked for the veteran’s tips on how to maintain a healthy relationship with the pan-democrats.
“You have expelled lots of members [from the chamber] but I have ousted none. People said I was loud and difficult, with some lawmakers told newspapers today that I would cut short of the filibusters with a strong hand when in fact I have never done so before,” Leung told Tsang.
“How could I forge good communication with the pan-democrats so people will not say I am ‘loud and difficult’ even if I have done something bad?”
Tsang said it was crucial for Leung to build trust with his colleagues soon after he took office.
“If you have not started it well at the very beginning, which results in a rather tense relationship that has no trust, it would be very hard to get things done in future,” he said.
Civic Passion’s Cheng Chung-tai, one of the six newly elected localists, also said he worried Leung would ignore the criticism against him as the trade-based lawmaker had been uncontested in the Industrial (First) constituency since 2004.
But Tsang dismissed Cheng’s concerns as he defended Leung as a decent candidate to take the helm by citing his previous performance as the acting president.
Separately, the democratic caucus and pro-establishment bloc have yet to reach a consensus over the leadership of the Legco’s 18 panels.
It was understood that the pro-Beijing camp had hoped to grab both the chairmanship and vice-chairmanship of a number of panels which would handle controversial matters, including the panels on constitutional affairs, security and development, which is set to discuss the contentious Wang Chau housing plan. Pan-democrats opposed such monopoly and argued they should take turns.
