Hong Kong officials, lawmakers or Cathay Pacific – who’s to blame for birthday party Covid-19 health scare?
- Some pro-establishment figures point finger at rule-breaking Cathay crew for latest crisis, others focus their ire at top officials, lawmakers
- Scandal surrounding the ill-fated birthday party attended by more than 200 could cause a setback to Carrie Lam’s second-term bid, warns mainland politician
Pro-Beijing newspapers and the pro-establishment camp have been doubling down in defending the Hong Kong officials and lawmakers caught in an infamous birthday party-turned-political scandal amid an Omicron outbreak.
But a number of pro-establishment politicians called on Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to sack senior officials found to have violated social-distancing rules to show the public that the government would not fear stamping out wrongdoing at the highest levels of office.
“Lam’s political wisdom is now being put to the test. She can’t let the wrongdoers off the hook easily,” a veteran pro-establishment politician said on Monday. “The chief executive should complete the investigation and take appropriate disciplinary action by the end of this week.”
The politician, who asked not to be named, added: “She should draw a line, such as punishing or reprimanding those officials who stayed at the party for more than an hour or did not wear masks while walking around the venue.”
A member of mainland China’s advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the politician said the incident would cause a setback to Lam’s bid for a second term as Hong Kong’s chief executive. The incumbent has remained non-committal on whether she will seek another five-year term.
On Friday, she ordered an investigation into the conduct of the officials who attended the party.