Carrie Lam should withdraw extradition bill and make full public apology, says former Hong Kong minister
- Ex-transport chief Anthony Cheung suggests Hong Kong leader deliver apology in person, and calls on her to appoint judge to investigate police
- But he says crisis that grips city goes beyond chief executive’s handling of controversial extradition bill
A former minister has called on Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to announce the full withdrawal of the controversial extradition bill, apologise in person for her handling of the saga, and appoint a commission of inquiry to look into alleged excessive use of force by police last Wednesday.
In an interview with the Post on Monday, former secretary for transport and housing Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said Lam needed to assess if she intended to stay on as chief executive, but added the current political crisis went beyond the question of whether she should step down.
Cheung also said the chief executive should make the announcement as early as after the Executive Council meeting on Tuesday. Lam is expected to chair the weekly meeting of the Executive Council, the city’s top decision-making body, on Tuesday morning.
“The crisis underscores the complete failure of our political system. The central government can no longer expect the problems in Hong Kong to be resolved by focusing on economic and livelihood issues, while avoiding political reform,” said Cheung, who was speaking for the first time about the current administration since leaving the government two years ago.
Cheung accused the Hong Kong government of underestimating the opposition to the bill, and said it had failed to explain the urgency for pushing it though by next month to the public.