Hong Kong’s Executive Council should be dissolved or reformed as it is a relic from British rule, says former Legco president Jasper Tsang
- Carrie Lam had enough advisers but was overconfident when handling defunct extradition bill that sparked 2019 protests, he says
- Exco’s role not clearly defined and city leader can choose whether or not to listen to body’s advice, says pro-Beijing heavyweight
A former president of Hong Kong’s legislature has floated the idea of dissolving the Executive Council or having it reformed, saying the city leader’s top advisory body is “an anachronism” established under British colonial rule.
Without elaborating on problems with the top decision-making body of the past administration, pro-Beijing heavyweight Jasper Tsang Yok-sing said former leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor did not lack advisers but was “overconfident” in handling a now-defunct extradition bill in 2019 which sparked citywide protests.
At a lunch held by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club on Thursday, the former Legislative Council president addressed wide-ranging questions from the floor, including his take on the role of Exco, a powerful organ assisting the city’s leader in policymaking.
Tsang, who served as an Exco member from 2002 to 2008 under the leadership of Tung Chee-hwa and Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, described the body as an “anachronism” established in colonial days.
“In all other places formerly ruled by the British, Executive Councils were always set up when they established their rule. After the British left, either it would be dissolved, disbanded or transformed into the cabinet of a new government,” he said.
“We don’t know what the Exco in Hong Kong is … It is up to the chief executive to decide how much advice from the Exco members he would take.”
The Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, requires the chief executive to consult Exco, which usually meets once a week, before making important policy decisions and introducing bills to the Legislative Council.