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Chief Executive Carrie Lam meets the media on Tuesday. Photo: Sam Tsang

‘Massive’ plan for Hong Kong government restructuring will need buy-in from incoming leader John Lee, who is expected to respond next week, Carrie Lam says

  • Incumbent chief executive says she hopes go-ahead from her successor will give officials enough time to fight for Legco support
  • Outgoing and incoming leaders met on Monday to discuss proposal, among other measures

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has said a “massive” plan to restructure the government will need the buy-in from her successor, with Chief Executive-elect John Lee Ka-chiu expected to respond to the proposal by next week.

The shake-up will involve reforming the current 13 bureaus into 15 bodies, according to Lam, who was speaking on Tuesday before the weekly meeting of her de facto cabinet, the Executive Council.

But approval was needed first from Exco and incoming leader Lee before the plan could be presented to the Legislative Council, she added.

“We will have to wait until [Lee] agrees so that the current government can go and fight for Legco support,” she added, noting her administration had already provided Lee with all the information needed.

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The restructuring floated by Lam in January involves adding a policy bureau centred on culture, sports and tourism. The Transport and Housing Bureau will be split to focus on the two respective policy areas, while the Home Affairs Bureau will be renamed as the home affairs and youth bureau, subject to the view of the incoming chief executive.

Lam said the restructuring would involve the approval of recurring expenses amounting to HK$30 million (US$3.82 million).

Lee, the former No 2 official, secured 1,416 votes from the Election Committee in Sunday’s uncontested vote, giving him 99.2 per cent of the valid ballots cast. Lam herself won 777 votes, or 65.5 per cent of all valid ballots, in the 2017 leadership race.

John Lee (left) and Carrie Lam met on Monday. Photo: Handout
Lam and Lee held a meeting on Monday at her office during which they discussed the reorganisation of the government structure, measures to fight Covid-19 and activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule.

After the meeting with Lam, Lee said he had sought her views on “certain areas”.

Exco member Ronny Tong Ka-wah said the plan would first have to be approved by the advisory body, before being tabled to Legco.

Funding aside, there could be debates on the roles of the amended or freshly created positions, especially if Lee intended to set up a deputy post each for the chief secretary and financial secretary, as was floated during the campaign.

“If the Legislative Council ends up taking more than a month to approve the structuring, the ball will have to get rolling in the coming two weeks,” Tong said.

A spokesman from Lee’s office said he had already exchanged views with Lam the day after his victory was confirmed given the tight schedule.

“The chief-executive elect’s office is in close contact with that of the incumbent to expedite relevant work,” he said.

Chan Wai-keung, a political scientist at Polytechnic University, said the way in which Lam presented her views about a tight schedule could give the public an impression that she was hurrying Lee.

“Lam can exert some influence in the government’s revamp,” he said. “John Lee had earlier indicated that he supported Lam’s restructuring proposal, but maybe he would like more time to fine-tune the portfolios of the chiefs of the new bureaus, for the sake of finding the right candidates for the posts.”

Chan added: “It will be nice if the new line-up is ready on July 1 to mark what Lee likes to boast as a new chapter. But even in the worst scenario that the deadline cannot be met, Lee can still do the restructuring after he becomes chief executive. He does not have to meet Carrie Lam’s deadline.”

Carrie Lam (left) and John Lee met on Monday at her office, and discussed issues such as the reorganisation of the government structure. Photo: Robert Ng

Meanwhile, the latest findings of a tracking poll by Chinese University’s Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies showed the satisfaction rate for Lam’s government dropped to an almost two-year low of 13.5 per cent in April. It was down 3.8 percentage points from 17.3 per cent in the last poll in January. In May 2020, the satisfaction rate was 13 per cent.

According to the institute, the administration saw its lowest satisfaction rate of 10 per cent in November 2019, during the peak of the social unrest.

Some 46.8 per cent of the 706 respondents said they were dissatisfied with the government, down slightly from 48.5 per cent in January.

On a scale of zero to 100, with 100 being the highest score, Lam scored 33.6 in April for her overall performances, up slightly from 33.3 in January. Lee had a score of 34 – up 4.9 points from January – the highest he had recorded since being appointed chief secretary in June last year. Lee had already quit the post to run for the city’s top job when the poll was conducted in April.

The European Union on Sunday said Hong Kong’s recent election violated the “democratic principles and political pluralism”, calling it “another step in the dismantling of the ‘one country, two systems’ principles”.

China’s foreign ministry office in Hong Kong rejected the criticisms and demanded “all foreign forces” stop interfering in the city and country’s internal affairs, “otherwise they will only shoot themselves in the foot”.

Additional reporting by Ng Kang-chung

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